Say or Tell? 25 Exercises With Instant Answers

Say and tell both mean to put something into words, but they behave differently in a sentence. Tell almost always takes a personal object — you tell someone something: tell me, tell us the story, tell her the truth. Say takes the words themselves — you say something: say hello, say your name, say that you're busy.

The 25 sentences below cover the core object rule, the fixed expressions where the pattern flips (say a prayer but tell a lie, say goodbye but tell the truth), and reported speech, where both verbs appear with different structures. Every answer is checked on the spot with a one-line explanation.

Say vs Tell Quiz: 25 Questions

Warm-up · the object rule

1.Please ___ me your name.

2.What did he ___ at the meeting?

3.She ___ goodbye and left the room.

4.Can you ___ us the way to the station?

5.He ___ that he was tired.

6.Don't ___ anyone about the surprise.

7.How do you ___ this word in English?

8.My grandmother always ___ interesting stories.

Core · fixed expressions and reported speech

9.I don't trust him — he ___ lies all the time.

10.She ___ hello to everyone in the office.

11.The doctor ___ me to rest for a week.

12.He ___ that the report was ready.

13.They ___ us that the flight was delayed.

14.Can you ___ it again, more slowly?

15.I can ___ you're not telling the whole story.

16.The sign ___ that parking is forbidden.

17.She ___ me she would call, but she never did.

Challenge · say/tell vs speak/talk and tricky patterns

18.Which sentence is correct?

19.Which sentence is correct?

20.He ___ French fluently.

21.I would rather not ___ business at dinner.

22.___ me about your trip!

23.The clock on the wall ___ twelve.

24.She ___ a joke and everyone laughed.

25.I ___ so, but nobody listened.

Answer key and explanationsOpen after you finish the quiz.

1. tellThere is a personal object (me), so the verb is tell: tell me your name. Say can never be followed directly by a person.
2. sayNo personal object follows — just the words themselves — so the verb is say: what did he say? Tell would need a person: what did he tell you?
3. saidSay goodbye is a fixed expression with no personal object: she said goodbye. With an object it flips: she told me goodbye is not standard — she said goodbye to me.
4. tellUs is the personal object, so the verb is tell: tell us the way. Tell someone something is the classic double-object pattern.
5. saidA that-clause with no person mentioned takes said: he said that he was tired. Told would need the listener: he told me that he was tired.
6. tellAnyone is the personal object: don't tell anyone. Say cannot take a person object without to: don't say it to anyone.
7. sayWe ask how do you say X — the words themselves are the object, not a person. Compare: what do you call this? (name) vs how do you say this? (words).
8. tellsTell pairs with story, joke, lie, truth as fixed collocations — even without a person in between: tell stories, tell a joke, tell the truth.
9. tellsLies take tell, even though no listener is named: tell lies, tell a lie. The same fixed pattern covers tell the truth, tell a story, and tell a joke.
10. saidSay hello / say goodbye / say something / say nothing are fixed with say. Note the to: she said hello TO everyone — tell would need everyone directly: she told everyone hello is non-standard.
11. toldReported command with a personal object: told me to rest. Said can never take person + infinitive — the doctor said to rest has no listener.
12. saidReported statement with no listener mentioned: said that. Add a listener and it flips: he told me that the report was ready.
13. toldUs is the personal object, so told: they told us that… Said us is one of the most common errors in English — say never takes a bare person object.
14. sayIt refers to the words, not a person: say it again. Tell it again is possible only with a story-like it (tell it to someone).
15. tellTell meaning recognize/detect takes a clause: I can tell (that) you're tired. Say has no such meaning — this sense belongs to tell alone.
16. saysWritten messages say things: the sign says, the letter says, the article says. Tell is for people communicating to people (or fixed expressions).
17. toldPersonal object me → told. The pattern is tell + person + (that) clause: she told me (that) she would call.
18. He told me that he was hungry.Tell + person + that-clause is the only correct pattern here. Said me is wrong in all registers; the say-version is he said (that) he was hungry or he said to me…
19. What did she say?Without a listener you ask what did she say? Tell always needs its object: what did she tell YOU? — a bare tell is incomplete.
20. speaksLanguages pair with speak: he speaks French. Say and tell are for words and messages, not for language ability.
21. talkAfter would rather not, use the base verb. Talk business means discuss work matters: I would rather not talk business at dinner.
22. TellTell me about… is the fixed pattern — tell + person + about. Talk would need talk TO me about; say and speak cannot take me directly.
23. saysInstruments and texts say: the clock says twelve, the label says wash cold, the dictionary says… Tell is reserved for people and its fixed expressions.
24. toldTell a joke is fixed — even though joke is a thing, not a person. The tell-family: a joke, a story, a lie, the truth, a secret.
25. saidI said so is the fixed short reply. I told so is wrong; the version with tell needs a person: I told you so.

Tell Takes a Person, Say Takes Words

Almost every say/tell question resolves with one check: is there a listener (a personal object) right after the verb? If yes — tell me, tell him, tell the class. If the next thing is the message itself — words, a that-clause, hello, sorry — use say.

The structural difference: say focuses on the words (say something, say that…), tell focuses on the transfer to a person (tell someone something). That is why tell without an object feels cut off — what did she tell? — while say needs no listener at all.

tell + person: tell me, tell us, tell your brother — never tell to me.
say + words: say hello, say your name, say (that) you're sorry — never say me.
say + to + person when the listener must appear: say hello to me, say it to the team.
tell + person + about/of: tell me about your day.

If you can insert a person directly after the verb, choose tell. If you would need 'to' before the person, choose say.

The Fixed Expressions That Break the Rule

English keeps a short list of expressions where tell appears without a person and say appears with things that feel like messages. Learn them as whole phrases; the person rule will not produce them.

tell family: tell a lie, tell the truth, tell a story, tell a joke, tell a secret, tell the time, tell the difference.
say family: say hello/goodbye, say sorry, say a prayer, say something/nothing, say it again.
texts and instruments say: the sign says, the email says, the thermometer says 30 degrees.
recognition uses tell: I can tell you're nervous; you never can tell.

Learn the two families as vocabulary lists, not as grammar. The tell-family is short enough to memorize in a minute, and it covers nearly every 'no person' tell you will meet.

Say and Tell in Reported Speech

Reported speech is where the pair does real work. With a listener named, use tell + person + (that): she told me (that) she was leaving. Without a listener, use say + (that): she said (that) she was leaving. Both report the same words; only the structure differs.

Reported commands and requests split the same way: told + person + to-infinitive (he told me to wait). With say you must keep the to-phrase: he said to wait — but the tell version is far more natural when a listener exists.

She said (that) the meeting was cancelled. — no listener named.
She told us (that) the meeting was cancelled. — listener named.
He told her to call back. — reported command.
He said to call back. — same meaning, listener dropped.
Never: she said me… / she told to me… / she told that… (bare).

Say, Tell, Speak, Talk: The Full Picture

Say and tell are the two reporting verbs; speak and talk describe the activity of speaking rather than reporting what was said. Say = produce words (focus on content). Tell = inform someone (focus on listener). Speak = use a language or address an audience, more formal and one-directional (speak French, speak at a conference, may I speak to Anna?). Talk = converse, two-way and informal (talk to a friend, talk about work).

The fastest way to choose: ask what the sentence highlights. The words? say. The listener? tell. The language or podium? speak. The conversation? talk.

say: say something, say it slowly, what did you say?
tell: tell me, tell the truth, tell a story.
speak: speak English, speak to the manager, speak at an event.
talk: talk to someone, talk about something, talk for hours.

Where 'He Said Me' Comes From

In many languages the everyday verb for say takes the listener directly as an indirect object. Spanish me dijo que…, Italian mi ha detto che…, French il m'a dit que…, Portuguese ele me disse que…, German er hat mir gesagt, dass…, and Russian он сказал мне, что… all mean literally he said (to) me that. Translated word by word, they produce he said me that, which English does not allow.

English splits that one verb into two: tell when the listener is named (he told me that…), say when the listener is not (he said that…). If your language has a single verb here, check every say in your writing: if a person comes straight after it, change it to tell.

How to Practice Say vs Tell

After the quiz, write five reported messages from your own day — what a colleague told you, what a sign said, what you told a friend, what the news says. Write each one twice, once with the listener and once without (she told me the meeting was moved / she said the meeting was moved).

Then paste a recent email into PromGee's free grammar checker. It flags say/tell misuse (including said me) in your own sentences and explains the rule.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between say and tell?

Tell takes a personal object — you tell someone something (tell me, tell her the news). Say takes the words themselves — you say something (say hello, say that you agree). If a listener appears directly after the verb, use tell; if you need 'to' before the listener, use say.

Is 'he said me' ever correct?

No. Say never takes a bare personal object in any register. The correct forms are he said to me or, far more naturally, he told me. 'Said me' usually comes from languages where the say-verb takes the listener directly, such as Spanish me dijo or French il m'a dit.

Do you say 'tell a lie' or 'say a lie'?

Tell a lie. Lie belongs to the fixed tell-family along with truth, story, joke, and secret — expressions where tell appears without a person. Say has its own family: say hello, say goodbye, say sorry, say a prayer.

Catch Say/Tell Errors in Your Own Writing

Paste any email or message into PromGee's free grammar checker and see each say/tell/speak/talk choice explained.

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