SAY vs TELL
TL;DR – streszczenie
✔ SAY → powiedzieć coś
✔ TELL → powiedzieć coś komuś
say something
say to someone
tell someone something
tell someone to do something
Pełne wyjaśnienie
„Say” i „tell” oba oznaczają „powiedzieć”, ale NIE są zamienne.
Różnica jest bardzo prosta, jeśli zapamiętasz jedną zasadę:
👉 SAY – mówisz coś
👉 TELL – mówisz coś komuś
To wszystko. Teraz rozbijamy to dokładnie.
SAY – powiedzieć COŚ (bez odbiorcy)
✔ Struktura:
say + coś
✔ Przykłady:
She said hello.
He said that he was tired.
They said a few words.
I want to say something.
✔ Z „say” NIGDY nie dodajemy osoby bez „to”
❌ She said me…
✔ She said to me…
✔ Jeśli chcemy dodać odbiorcę:
say + (something) + to someone
She said “hi” to me.
He said something to her.
TELL – powiedzieć komuś (z odbiorcą!)
✔ Struktura:
tell + osoba (+ coś)
✔ Przykłady:
She told me the truth.
He told her a story.
They told us to wait.
Tell me your name.
✔ TELL wymaga osoby
Nie wolno pominąć odbiorcy, jeśli chcemy powiedzieć coś komuś.
❌ She told a story. (dziwnie, niepełne)
✔ She told us a story.
Tabela SAY vs TELL
| Użycie | SAY | TELL |
|---|---|---|
| „powiedzieć coś” | ✔ say something | ❌ tell something |
| „powiedzieć coś komuś” | say… to someone | ✔ tell someone |
| zdania zależne | say that… | tell someone that… |
| pozycja osoby | po „to”: say to me | bez „to”: tell me |
SAY – częste konstrukcje
say hello / goodbye
say something / nothing / anything
say a few words
say that…
say to somebody…
say what you think
say yes / no
Przykłady:
She said hello.
He said that he was busy.
What did she say to you?
TELL – częste konstrukcje
tell the truth
tell a story
tell a lie
tell the time
tell the difference
tell someone to do something
tell a joke
Przykłady:
Tell me the truth.
He told her to stop.
Can you tell the time? (= umiesz podać godzinę?)
I can’t tell the difference.
Mowa zależna (Reported Speech)
Tutaj też różnica jest prosta:
✔ SAY → przy „że” (bez osoby)
She said that she was hungry.
✔ TELL → przy odbiorcy
She told me that she was hungry.
Typowe błędy
❌ He said me the truth.
✔ He told me the truth.
❌ She told that she’s tired.
✔ She said that she’s tired.
✔ She told me that she’s tired.
❌ What did he tell?
✔ What did he say? (co powiedział?)
✔ What did he tell you? (co ci powiedział?)
❌ Tell to me!
✔ Tell me!