What is the difference between сказать and разсказать?

Learning Russian Forum - Ask a Tutor
1

From the text, I get the feeling that сказать has to do with telling one particular thing, whereas разсказать has to do with telling a series of things. Is this correct?

2

говорить/сказать mean “to speak” or “to tell”, whereas рассказывать/рассказать mean “to speak about (something)”/“to tell about (something)”. In German it would be “sagen” and “erzählen”.

Maybe some examples help:

  • он говорит по-русски - he speaks Russian

  • он говорит правду - he tells the truth

  • это говорит само за себя - that speaks for itself

  • рассказывать ребёнку сказку - tell the child a story

  • рассказывать о своей жизни - tell the story of one’s life

3

@becomingpolyglot
You are right. Both words have the same root. There is a noun “рассказ”=“story”, and the related verb “рассказывать” means “to tell a story” (“a story” is implied, but usually is omitted from speech).

Tell me your name. - Скажи [imperative for “сказать”] мне свое имя.
Tell me about your life. - Расскажи [imperative for “рассказать”] мне [историю] о своей жизни.

4

Thanks for clarifying.