Say or Tell, Listen or Hear

Say and Tell have similar meanings. They both mean to communicate verbally with someone. But we often use them differently.

The simple way to think of say and tell is:

• You say something
• You tell someone something

You say something	You tell someone something
Ram said that he was tired.	Ram told Jane that he was tired.
Anthony says you have a new job.	Anthony tells me you have a new job.
Tara said: "I love you."	Tara told John that she loved him.

But, of course, it is not always so easy. Here are a few rules to help you.

Personal object
We usually follow tell with a personal object (the person that we are speaking to). We usually use say without a personal object:

• She told me that she loved John.
• She said that she loved John.
• He told everybody that he had to leave.
• He said that he had to leave.

Say "to someone"
With say, we sometimes use "to someone":

• He said to me that he was tired.
• Tara said to Ram that he had done very well.
• Anthony said to her, "I hope you come soon."
• "I'd like to sleep," she said to him quietly.

Direct speech
We can use say with direct speech. We use tell only with direct speech that is an instruction or information:

• Amanda said, "Hello John. How are you?"
• "That's great'" she said.
• He told her: "Open the door quietly."
• She told me, "I have never been to England."

We can use say with direct questions, but we cannot use tell:

• She said: "Do you love me?"
• The policeman said to the prisoner, "Where were you at 8pm?"

Reported speech
We can use say and tell to talk about reported information:

• She said that it was raining.
• She told me that she would call at 2pm.

We cannot use say or tell to talk about reported questions. We must use ask (or a similar verb):

• She asked if I had ever been there.
• They asked what I wanted to eat.
• She asked where he lived.
• He asked if she wanted to go home.

Orders, advice
We use tell + object + infinitive for orders or advice:

• She told him to sit down.
• They told me not to wait.
• Tell Neil to have a holiday and forget her.

Phrases
Here are a few fixed phrases with tell. We cannot use say with these phrases:

• tell (someone) a story
• tell (someone) a lie
• tell (someone) the truth
• tell the future (= to know what the future will bring)
• tell the time (= know how to read a clock)

Right and wrong
Read these examples of correct and incorrect usage:

We cannot...	These are NOT possible...	These are possible...
say someone to do something	Tara said Jo to go away.	Tara told Jo to go away.
say someone something	Panita said me that she was hungry.	Panita told me that she was hungry.
tell something	He told that he likes coffee.	He said that he likes coffee.
tell to someone	Tookta told to me that she was coming.	Tookta told me that she was coming.
		Tookta said to me that she was coming.
say a lie	Siriluck always says lies.	Siriluck always tells lies.
tell somebody "direct speech" (except instructions and information)	Ram told Nok: "Let's turn on the TV."	Ram said to Nok: "Let's turn on the TV."
		(Ram told Nok, "Turn on the TV.")
		(Ram told Nok: "I was born in 1985.")
say or tell a reported question	She said if I wanted to come.	She asked if I wanted to come.
	Tookta told what I wanted to do.	Took asked what I wanted to do.

Listen and Hear

Many students use listen and hear interchangably. However, there is an important difference between them. Listening describes an intentional activity. When you are listening, you are actively trying to hear something.

In contrast, hearing is something that happens without any intentional effort. You can hear something even when you don't want to hear it and don't try to hear it.

The sentences below contain both listen and hear and show the contrast:

• I listened outside the door, but I couldn't hear what they were saying inside. [Note that even if you listen, you don't always hear what you are trying to hear.]
• His story was so long and boring that I stopped listening, until suddenly I heard my name. [Note that even if you are not listening, you might hear something.]

Finally listen is often used with to.

In the examples below,taken from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, listen or listen to cannot be replaced by hear:

• What kind of music do you listen to?
• She does all the talking - I just sit and listen.
• You haven't listened to a word I've said!
• We listened in silence as the names of the dead were read out.
• Listen, we really need to sort out our insurance claim this weekend.
• Listen to this! You can win a holiday for two in the south of France just by answering three simple questions.

Likewise, in the examples below, hear cannot be replaced by

listen

, because hear is describing something that a person cannot control/

• She heard a noise outside.
• My grandfather is getting old and can't hear very well.
• You'll have to speak up, I can't hear you.

HOWEVER, there are a few cases in which hear is used to mean something very close to listen to. In the examples below, listen to could replace hear.

• I heard a really interesting programme on the radio this morning.
• I heard the orchestra play at Carnegie Hall last summer.
• An audience gathered to hear him speak.

Why is hear used instead of listen to in these cases? Maybe because the emphasis in each case is on the contents of what is hear rather than on the activity of listening.