Tell means to communicate information or a fact to someone; to give an instruction or order to someone; or to be able to see, notice, or distinguish something. Irregular verb: tell / told / told.
What Does Tell Mean?
Tell comes from Old English tellan, meaning to count or to recount, related to Old Norse telja. The original sense of enumerating or accounting survives in the word teller (a bank cashier who counts money). Over the course of the Middle English period, the meaning broadened to cover the relating of facts, stories, and information, giving us the modern verb we use today.
In contemporary English, tell covers three overlapping senses. First, it means to pass on information: Tell me what happened. Second, it means to give an instruction or command: She told him to wait outside. Third — and often overlooked by learners — it means to perceive or distinguish: I could tell she was nervous by her voice. Mastering all three senses is essential for fluent English.
The most important distinction for ESL learners is the difference between tell and say. Tell always requires a personal object (you tell someone something), while say does not: She told me the news vs She said the news was surprising. Confusing these two is one of the most frequent errors at intermediate level.
Example Sentences by Level
| Level | Sentence | Usage note |
|---|---|---|
| A2 | Tell me what happened at the meeting yesterday. | tell + indirect object + wh-clause |
| B1 | My teacher told us to read the first three chapters before Friday. | tell + object + infinitive (instruction) |
| B1 | Can you tell the difference between British and American accents? | tell the difference (notice/distinguish) |
| B2 | It was impossible to tell whether she was pleased or disappointed by the result. | tell + whether-clause (perceive/judge) |
| C1 | The stress in her voice told a very different story from the words she was saying. | subject reveals/indicates (figurative use) |
Common Collocations
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| tell the truth | Always tell the truth, even when it is difficult. |
| tell a lie | He told a lie to avoid getting into trouble. |
| tell a story | My grandmother used to tell us stories every evening. |
| tell the time | Can you tell the time from an analogue clock? |
| tell the difference | I cannot tell the difference between these two wines. |
| tell a joke | He always tells the same joke at parties. |
| tell someone off | The manager told him off for arriving late again. |
| tell apart | The twins are so alike that nobody can tell them apart. |
| time will tell | Whether the plan succeeds, only time will tell. |
| I can tell | I can tell you have been working hard — the results show it. |
Usage Notes
Key Points for Learners
- Tell always needs a personal object. You tell someone something: Tell me the answer. Without a person, use say: She said the answer was wrong (not She told the answer was wrong).
- Tell + object + infinitive is the standard pattern for instructions: The doctor told me to rest, She told the children to be quiet. Do not use say in this structure.
- Tell meaning to notice or distinguish is usually used with can or could: I can tell he is nervous, She could tell it was going to rain. This sense does not usually appear in the imperative.
- Told is the only past form — there is no telled. Tell is an irregular verb and one of the most common in English, so its past form must be memorised.
- Tell off (phrasal verb) means to scold or reprimand: The teacher told him off for talking in class. This is informal but very common in British English.
Common Mistakes
Watch Out For
She said me the answer. (say cannot take a personal indirect object like this)
She told me the answer. (tell + person + thing)
He telled us to leave. (tell is irregular — past tense is told, not telled)
He told us to leave.
Tell to him what happened. (no preposition needed between tell and its object)
Tell him what happened.