Indirect Speech: Say and tell

 

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• Use tell when you mention the listener. Use say when you don’t.

            Example:

            Tell: John told his pet to stay home. (listeners mentioned)

            Say: John said to stay home. (listeners not mentioned)

• When say and tell are in the past tense, the verbs in the indirect speech statement often change.Present becomes past. Past becomes past perfect. Will becomes would. Can becomes could. 

            Example:

1. The reporter said, “The weather will be cold.” The reporter said (that) the weather wold be cold.
2. John said, “We all had a hamburger last night.”-> John said (that) they all had had a hamburger    last night.
3. He said, “There will be rain tomorrow.”-> He said there would be rain tomorrow.

Vocabulary