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English LingQ Podcast 1.0, Ninty-seven: About “to say”, “to tell” and “to speak”

Ninty-seven: About “to say”, “to tell” and “to speak”

Steve: Hi Jill.

Jill: Hi Steve.

Steve: How are you today?

Jill: Great thanks, how are you?

Steve: Good thanks. I gather that we have had some listeners who have asked you for some help on some subjects having to do with the use of English. What exactly do you have in mind?

Jill: Well, on the EnglishLingQ Forum a few people, in particular, have posted some topics that they would like us to talk about. One post was from the user Vicki and she wanted us to speak about when we use “speak”, “tell”, “say”, just like we did on another podcast with “to look” and “to see” and “to watch”. These words are very confusing I think to a lot of people, so maybe today we will start with that.

Steve: Alright. Now you don't give me any warning here. Maybe you have had time to think about it. I mean, right off the bat, as we say in English, you know, the first thing that comes to mind is that we tell someone something, but we speak to someone. We don't tell to someone, so we always tell someone something.

Jill: Right or tell a tale, tell a story.

Steve: Tell a story, but we can also tell him about something.

Jill: Right.

Steve: We can tell him or her that, you know, her pants are dirty or something she might not be aware of, you know. You've got a smudge on your blouse. We tell people something, a story or some news. We tell someone that either their house is burning or that, you know, Italy won the world cup of soccer or something, but always we tell someone we don't tell to someone.

Jill: And we don't say…we can say to someone.

Steve: We only say to someone.

Jill: Right.

We can't say we say someone.

Steve: No, exactly, and I think that is the first distinction that I think people have to focus on. I often hear non-native speakers say “I told to him”.

Jill: Yes.

Steve: Or “he said me”. The key thing, I think the first thing, is I “say to” someone.

Jill: Right.

Steve: I don't “say” someone I “say to” someone, but I “tell” someone.

Jill: Right.

Steve: Okay. “Speak” is also I “speak to” someone”, but the “speak” is not about communicating any particular information it's about the fact that you and someone else…your mouths are opening and closing and you're making sound at each other.

Jill: Right, right.

Steve: So, it is not connected to a specific message.

Jill: Or you speak to somebody about something.

Steve: But when we tell someone the suggestion is that we're delivering a message.

Jill: Right.

Steve: And when we say something to someone, again, it seems to be more a specific message.

Jill: Right.

Steve: Whereas, we “speak to” someone means we're having a conversation.

Jill: Right.

Steve: Right. I don't know if that's helpful to people, because in other languages the words say and tell often are translated with the same word.

Jill: Right.

That's probably why so many people have problems.

Steve: Right. Let's just look at it. If say I want to tell you that, you know, you're late I want to say to you that you're late. I mean they are kind of similar, but when we have a specific message to deliver we tend to use tell. Or what…I don't know.

Jill: It's hard to explain the way you just used something so naturally when it's your native language. I think really the main thing is -- what we said initially – you can't say someone you have to say to someone, say something to someone, but you tell someone something.

Steve: But, if I say to you “tell me something” then it implies that I want a meaningful message from you. If I say “say something” it almost just means make noise. For example, if someone is unconscious, let's say that you're lying there unconscious, I come up and I slap your face and I say “Jill, say something!” But, I wouldn't say tell me something.

Jill: Yeah, that's true.

Steve: You know. I might say “speak”, but I'm more likely to say “say something”.

Jill: I just had a thought and I've lost it now. I was going to say that's kind of a very specific scenario, because you could also say “say something” when you do want a real message. For example, you tell somebody something, you say something to somebody and they just look at you with the blank stare on their face, so you might say, you know, say something, meaning give me some sort of reaction, respond in some manner to what I've just told you, so you could want a meaningful response if you say “say something”.

Steve: Another use of the word say or said, you know, the past tense of tell is told, in what's known as reported speech, alright. If we read a book and the detective says to the criminal, we don't say the detective tells the criminal. Well, we might, but the most often used term for reported speech is “said”. You know, “What can I do for you?” said the shop owner. “Whom do you want to speak to?” said the receptionist, not “told” the receptionist.

Jill: No.

Steve: I think one thing to think about is tell has to do with a tale, to some extent; there has to be a story. We tell a tale.

Jill: Exactly.

Steve: We tell a tale. We tell a story, whereas, saying is I think, in a sense, sort of a neutral word for the fact that someone is expressing themselves. Of course, we always say this, save the word in LingQ. Save “say” or “said” or “saying”, because they're all going to be slightly different in terms of tense and in terms of how they're used.

Jill: And save them also like as a phrase too. “Said something to”…

Steve: Sure, they can save the phrase, but even saving the word will generate the phrase in LingQ.

Jill: Yeah, that's right.

Steve: So, I think it's just a matter of getting used to it, but I think the biggest thing of all, what I find jarring, is when I speak to non-native speakers and they say “I say him”, “I told to him”, that's the biggest problem. I think if people can get beyond that then they will get a more natural rhythm and they will start to be more sensitive to how those words are used. I think the person Vicki who asked us, if she starts saving the word, if she's a little sensitive to “I said to him”, but “I told him”, she'll start noticing it and pretty soon she'll start naturally using it correctly.

Jill: Right.

Steve: I think that's more useful than us trying to come up with all the possible situations and contradictions and exceptions and so forth.

Jill: Exactly, I agree.

Steve: I don't know if that helps, but that covers that subject I hope satisfactorily. Thank you very much Jill.

Jill: Thank you.

Steve: Bye, bye.

Jill: Bye, bye.


Ninty-seven: About “to say”, “to tell” and “to speak” Siebenundneunzig: Über "sagen", "erzählen" und "sprechen" Noventa y siete: Sobre "decir", "contar" y "hablar" Novantasette: Su "dire", "raccontare" e "parlare" 第97回言う」「伝える」「話す」について Zevenennegentig: Over "zeggen", "vertellen" en "spreken" Dziewięćdziesiąt siedem: O "powiedzieć", "powiedzieć" i "mówić" Noventa e sete: Sobre "dizer", "contar" e "falar" Девяносто седьмой: О "сказать", "рассказать" и "говорить" Nittiosju: Om "att säga", "att berätta" och "att tala" Doksan yedi: "Söylemek", "anlatmak" ve "konuşmak" hakkında 九十七:关于“说”、“说”、“说”

Steve: Hi Jill.

Jill: Hi Steve.

Steve: How are you today? Steve: Como é que está hoje?

Jill: Great thanks, how are you?

Steve: Good thanks. I gather that we have had some listeners who have asked you for some help on some subjects having to do with the use of English. Tengo entendido que algunos oyentes le han pedido ayuda sobre temas relacionados con el uso del inglés. What exactly do you have in mind?

Jill: Well, on the EnglishLingQ Forum a few people, in particular, have posted some topics that they would like us to talk about. One post was from the user Vicki and she wanted us to speak about when we use “speak”, “tell”, “say”, just like we did on another podcast with “to look” and “to see” and “to watch”. These words are very confusing I think to a lot of people, so maybe today we will start with that.

Steve: Alright. Now you don’t give me any warning here. Ahora no me das ninguna advertencia aquí. Maintenant, vous ne me donnez aucun avertissement ici. Maybe you have had time to think about it. Peut-être avez-vous eu le temps d'y réfléchir. I mean, right off the bat, as we say in English, you know, the first thing that comes to mind is that we tell someone something, but we speak to someone. Je veux dire, dès le départ, comme on dit en anglais, vous savez, la première chose qui vient à l'esprit est que nous disons quelque chose à quelqu'un, mais nous parlons à quelqu'un. Ik bedoel, meteen, zoals we in het Engels zeggen, weet je, het eerste dat in je opkomt, is dat we iemand iets vertellen, maar we spreken met iemand. We don’t tell to someone, so we always tell someone something.

Jill: Right or tell a tale, tell a story. Jill: Derecho o contar un cuento, contar una historia.

Steve: Tell a story, but we can also tell him about something.

Jill: Right.

Steve: We can tell him or her that, you know, her pants are dirty or something she might not be aware of, you know. Steve : Nous pouvons lui dire que, vous savez, son pantalon est sale ou quelque chose dont elle pourrait ne pas être consciente, vous savez. You’ve got a smudge on your blouse. Tienes una mancha en la blusa. Vous avez une tache sur votre chemisier. We tell people something, a story or some news. We tell someone that either their house is burning or that, you know, Italy won the world cup of soccer or something, but always we tell someone we don’t tell to someone. Le decimos a alguien que su casa se está quemando o que, ya sabes, Italia ha ganado la copa del mundo de fútbol o algo así, pero siempre que se lo decimos a alguien no se lo decimos a alguien.

Jill: And we don’t say…we can say to someone. Jill: Y no decimos ... podemos decir a alguien.

Steve: We only say to someone.

Jill: Right.

We can’t say we say someone.

Steve: No, exactly, and I think that is the first distinction that I think people have to focus on. I often hear non-native speakers say “I told to him”. A menudo oigo a hablantes no nativos decir "se lo dije".

Jill: Yes.

Steve: Or “he said me”. Steve: O "me dijo". The key thing, I think the first thing, is I “say to” someone.

Jill: Right.

Steve: I don’t “say” someone I “say to” someone, but I “tell” someone.

Jill: Right.

Steve: Okay. “Speak” is also I “speak to” someone”, but the “speak” is not about communicating any particular information it’s about the fact that you and someone else…your mouths are opening and closing and you’re making sound at each other.

Jill: Right, right.

Steve: So, it is not connected to a specific message.

Jill: Or you speak to somebody about something.

Steve: But when we tell someone the suggestion is that we’re delivering a message.

Jill: Right.

Steve: And when we say something to someone, again, it seems to be more a specific message.

Jill: Right.

Steve: Whereas, we “speak to” someone means we’re having a conversation.

Jill: Right.

Steve: Right. I don’t know if that’s helpful to people, because in other languages the words say and tell often are translated with the same word.

Jill: Right.

That’s probably why so many people have problems.

Steve: Right. Let’s just look at it. If say I want to tell you that, you know, you’re late I want to say to you that you’re late. Si digamos que quiero decirte que, ya sabes, llegas tarde quiero decirte que llegas tarde. Si je veux te dire ça, tu sais, tu es en retard, je veux te dire que tu es en retard. I mean they are kind of similar, but when we have a specific message to deliver we tend to use tell. Or what…I don’t know.

Jill: It’s hard to explain the way you just used something so naturally when it’s your native language. I think really the main thing is -- what we said initially – you can’t say someone you have to say to someone, say something to someone, but you tell someone something.

Steve: But, if I say to you “tell me something” then it implies that I want a meaningful message from you. If I say “say something” it almost just means make noise. For example, if someone is unconscious, let’s say that you’re lying there unconscious, I come up and I slap your face and I say “Jill, say something!” But, I wouldn’t say tell me something.

Jill: Yeah, that’s true.

Steve: You know. I might say “speak”, but I’m more likely to say “say something”.

Jill: I just had a thought and I’ve lost it now. Jill : Je viens d'avoir une pensée et je l'ai perdue maintenant. I was going to say that’s kind of a very specific scenario, because you could also say “say something” when you do want a real message. J'allais dire que c'est une sorte de scénario très spécifique, parce que vous pouvez aussi dire « dites quelque chose » quand vous voulez un vrai message. For example, you tell somebody something, you say something to somebody and they just look at you with the blank stare on their face, so you might say, you know, say something, meaning give me some sort of reaction, respond in some manner to what I’ve just told you, so you could want a meaningful response if you say “say something”. Por ejemplo, le dices algo a alguien y te mira con la mirada perdida, así que podrías decir, ya sabes, di algo, es decir, dame algún tipo de reacción, responde de alguna manera a lo que te acabo de decir, así que podrías querer una respuesta significativa si dices "di algo". Par exemple, vous dites quelque chose à quelqu'un, vous dites quelque chose à quelqu'un et il vous regarde simplement avec le regard vide sur son visage, alors vous pourriez dire, vous savez, dites quelque chose, c'est-à-dire donnez-moi une sorte de réaction, répondez d'une certaine manière à ce que je viens de vous dire, alors vous pourriez vouloir une réponse significative si vous dites « dites quelque chose ».

Steve: Another use of the word say or said, you know, the past tense of tell is told, in what’s known as reported speech, alright. Steve: Otro uso de la palabra say o said, ya sabes, el tiempo pasado de tell es told, en lo que se conoce como reported speech, de acuerdo. If we read a book and the detective says to the criminal, we don’t say the detective tells the criminal. Well, we might, but the most often used term for reported speech is “said”. You know, “What can I do for you?” said the shop owner. "¿Qué puedo hacer por usted?", dijo el dueño de la tienda. “Whom do you want to speak to?” said the receptionist, not “told” the receptionist.

Jill: No.

Steve: I think one thing to think about is tell has to do with a tale, to some extent; there has to be a story. We tell a tale.

Jill: Exactly.

Steve: We tell a tale. We tell a story, whereas, saying is I think, in a sense, sort of a neutral word for the fact that someone is expressing themselves. Of course, we always say this, save the word in LingQ. Save “say” or “said” or “saying”, because they’re all going to be slightly different in terms of tense and in terms of how they’re used.

Jill: And save them also like as a phrase too. “Said something to”…

Steve: Sure, they can save the phrase, but even saving the word will generate the phrase in LingQ.

Jill: Yeah, that’s right.

Steve: So, I think it’s just a matter of getting used to it, but I think the biggest thing of all, what I find jarring, is when I speak to non-native speakers and they say “I say him”, “I told to him”, that’s the biggest problem. Steve: Creo que es cuestión de acostumbrarse, pero lo que más me chirría es cuando hablo con hablantes no nativos y me dicen "yo le digo", "yo le dije", ese es el mayor problema. Steve : Donc, je pense que c'est juste une question de s'y habituer, mais je pense que la chose la plus importante de toutes, ce que je trouve choquant, c'est quand je parle à des locuteurs non natifs et qu'ils disent "je le dis", "je dit à lui », c'est le plus gros problème. I think if people can get beyond that then they will get a more natural rhythm and they will start to be more sensitive to how those words are used. Je pense que si les gens peuvent aller au-delà de cela, ils auront un rythme plus naturel et ils commenceront à être plus sensibles à la façon dont ces mots sont utilisés. I think the person Vicki who asked us, if she starts saving the word, if she’s a little sensitive to “I said to him”, but “I told him”, she’ll start noticing it and pretty soon she’ll start naturally using it correctly. Je pense que la personne Vicki qui nous a demandé, si elle commence à garder le mot, si elle est un peu sensible au "je lui ai dit", mais "je lui ai dit", elle commencera à le remarquer et bientôt elle commencera naturellement l'utiliser correctement.

Jill: Right.

Steve: I think that’s more useful than us trying to come up with all the possible situations and contradictions and exceptions and so forth. Steve : Je pense que c'est plus utile que d'essayer de trouver toutes les situations possibles, les contradictions et les exceptions, etc. Стив: Я думаю, что это более полезно, чем если бы мы пытались придумать все возможные ситуации, противоречия, исключения и так далее. Steve: Bence bu, tüm olası durumları, çelişkileri, istisnaları ve benzerlerini bulmaya çalışmamızdan daha faydalı.

Jill: Exactly, I agree.

Steve: I don’t know if that helps, but that covers that subject I hope satisfactorily. Thank you very much Jill.

Jill: Thank you.

Steve: Bye, bye.

Jill: Bye, bye.