Say versus tell
Say and tell function differently in speech reports. Tell focuses on the content or message of what was said:
She told him they were going on holiday. (focus on the information)
Say focuses more on the words someone said:
‘Hello,’ she said.
(‘Hello,’ she told me.)
Say can introduce direct reports. Tell is not normally used in this way:
He said, ‘I’m not paying $50 for that.’
(He told me, ‘I’m not paying $50 for that.’)
Say and tell have different rules of complementation. Say is used with an optional prepositional complement and an object (which is the reported clause). Tell normally has an indirect object, along with a direct object (which is the reported clause):
I said to her, ‘When I’m ready I’ll tell you.’
She said she didn’t know anything about it.
(or: She told me she didn’t know anything about it.)
(She told she didn’t know anything about it.)
And then they told us we had to do it.
(or: And then they said we had to do it.)
(And then they told we had to do it.)
Say is not used with an indirect object to refer to the person addressed:
I said to her, ‘When I’m ready I’ll tell you.’
(I said her, ‘When I’m ready I’ll tell you.’)
They told me I’d have to wait.
(or: They said I’d have to wait.)
(They said me I’d have to wait.)
Generally, tell but not say is used with an infinitive clause to report directives:
The man from Foreign Affairs had told her to prepare for the worst.
But in informal spoken contexts, say may also be used with an infinitive clause to report a directive:
I phoned up the hospital and they said to go down.
