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Which reporting verb takes an object, a persistent error source.
Why you specifically
Trong tiếng Việt, “nói” có thể dùng rất linh hoạt nên người học dễ chuyển thẳng sang tiếng Anh và dùng say/tell lẫn lộn. Cần nhớ quy tắc chính: say thường đi với nội dung được nói ra, ví dụ say that..., say hello; còn tell phải có người nghe hoặc đối tượng theo sau, ví dụ tell me, tell us, tell him. Tell cũng dùng trong cấu trúc tell someone to do something: told me to wait, told us to leave. Lỗi rất phổ biến là viết said me hoặc told that. Hai cách này đều sai vì say không nhận tân ngữ trực tiếp, còn tell thì cần tân ngữ. Khi sửa, hãy tự hỏi: có “người” sau động từ không? Nếu có người nghe, thường dùng tell. Nếu chỉ là lời được kể lại, thường dùng say.
The rule
Say and tell both mean “report,” but they are used differently. Say is usually followed by the words that were spoken, often with that + clause, and it does not take a direct object. Tell is followed by a person or other object: tell me, tell us, tell him, and it can also be followed by to + verb, as in tell someone to do something. In reported speech, this difference is very important: He said that he was tired. / He told me that he was tired. Both are correct, but He told that he was tired is wrong because tell needs an object.
The trap
She said me the answer.
She told me the answer.
Tell needs a person or other object after it. Say does not take a direct object in this meaning.
He told that he was tired.
He said that he was tired.
Say is used to report words or a message. Tell needs an object, so this sentence cannot use tell here.
Please tell hello to your mother.
Please say hello to your mother.
Say can be followed by a message or by hello, but it cannot take a direct object like a person in this pattern.
The teacher said us to open our books.
The teacher told us to open our books.
Tell can be followed by an object and then an infinitive. Say cannot take this structure.
Prove it
14 drills
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