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  • Hi everybody, my name is Alisha.

  • Welcome back to EnglishClass101.com's Youtube channel.

  • Today, I'm going to talk aboutsay,”“tell,” andspeak.”

  • I'm going to talk about the differences between when we use these and

  • also give some examples of how to use them as well.

  • So let's go!

  • Okay, the first one I want to talk about issay.”

  • Say.

  • So we usesaywhen we want to have a very neutral feel to what we're talking about.

  • We usesaywhen we report speech, we're reporting information, reporting something

  • we heard, reporting something someone else said to us.

  • So as I just use the past tense ofsayis said; please be careful it is not say-ed,

  • it should besaid,” the spelling changes, said.

  • He said, she said, we said, they said.

  • Okay, so when we want to report speech we can use the past tense like I've just done,

  • for example, he said dinner was delicious.

  • This is a past tense statement, so maybe previously before the conversation, someone, he said this

  • statement, dinner was delicious, think of this like a quote, dinner was delicious,

  • he said dinner was delicious.

  • Another example, you said you were tired.

  • You said you were tired.

  • So again, before the conversation, the other person said he or she was tired, but here

  • to report, you said you were tired, and we use the past tense ofsay” - “saidto do that.

  • Okay, one more with the present tense then, remember we use the present tense when we're

  • talking about general facts or things which are always true regular actions.

  • So in this case, I've used present tense, I said I never say mean things.

  • So here I have present tense, this is a general fact in this case, I never say mean things.

  • So again, a very neutral way of talking about verbal communication.

  • Okay, so that's how we usesay.”

  • An introduction to how we usesay.”

  • Then let's talk about how to usetell.”

  • We usetell” a little bit differently from the way that we usesay.”

  • So we usetellwhen we want to show kind of a one-way nuance, there's sort of

  • one-way communication happening.

  • So by that I mean that someone is passing new information or giving new information

  • to another person, something I do not already know, I'm having someone tell me; someone

  • is going to tell me new information.

  • So we use this in past tense a lot, the past tense oftellis told.

  • He told me, she told me, they told me; this gives us the nuance of new information, something

  • I'm learning, something I am hearing for the first time.

  • I can usetell,” or, “toldin past tense.

  • Also, one point aboutto tell,” the object, in many cases, is a person, so by that I mean

  • after the verbtellthe item coming after it in the sentence there is usually

  • a person, so the person receiving the information.

  • So, please tell me, please tell her, please tell him, the person indicated here or the

  • group of people indicated here after the verb "tell," that's the person or the group of

  • people receiving the information, learning the information.

  • Okay, so let's see

  • I told you to call me.

  • Here, I have the past tense, I told you to call me, soyou,”

  • this is the receiver of the information.

  • I told you to call me, I asked you to call me here.

  • Okay, so this is the report, some command,

  • we can usetellandtoldto give commands.

  • I told you to call me, I gave you the new request to call me, in other words.

  • Okay, one more, a request this time

  • Can you tell me where the bathroom is?

  • So here, “tell me,” so this is a request for information;

  • can you tell me where the bathroom is.

  • I don't know where the bathroom is, please give me new information,

  • please tell me where it is.

  • Okay, here we also use present tense, yeah, so when you're making a request,

  • please make sure to use the present tense.

  • Can you tell me something?

  • One more.

  • Why didn't you tell me the party was canceled?

  • Another question, why didn't you tell me, so you didn't give me new information about

  • the party, why?

  • Why didn't you tell me bla bla bla?

  • We can use this pattern for if you miss information or if someone forgot to tell you something,

  • if someone forgot to give you information that you needed, you can say

  • why didn't you tell me bla bla bla?

  • To make a different sentence, you could say, why didn't you tell her or why didn't you

  • tell them, why didn't you tell our boss.

  • Some other examples, a positive sentence could be, why did you tell him?

  • Why did you tell her?

  • For example, if someone tells a secret.

  • So we can use "tell" to give new information, to pass new information along.

  • Okay, so that's "tell."

  • So the next verb that I want to talk about today is the verb "speak."

  • so we use "speak" to mean a conversation, yes.

  • So "speak" has the nuance of a conversation but it has the nuance of a more formal tone.

  • we would use "speak" in more formal situations, like a business meeting or a work setting,

  • for example, or for maybe a more serious conversation.

  • But we can use "speak" with either "with" or "to."

  • So I mean, speak with someone and speak to someone.

  • So the difference between these two is very very small, if you say speak with my boss,

  • it sounds like you expect a conversation with your boss, speaking with someone, sounds like

  • there's information passing back and forth between the two of you.

  • Speak to your boss sounds more like, for example, you're going to say a lot of things, you're

  • going to give a lot of information and your boss will participate a little bit, but there's

  • more nuance of giving information than passing information back and forth.

  • So if you want to make a more conversational nuance, use "with," speak with someone.

  • If you want it to sound a little more one-sided, a little more one way, use "speak to" someone.

  • Okay, so we also use speak for languages, like I speak English, I speak French, I speak

  • Japanese, I don't speak German, I don't speak Thai.

  • So please use "speak" for languages, as well.

  • The past tense of speak is "spoke."

  • Please be careful, it is not speak-ed, please use "spoke," the past tense is spoke.

  • I spoke English every day when I lived in America, for example.

  • So please use "spoke" as the past tense here.

  • Also, the past participle form is spoken.

  • So we'll see that in a little bit, maybe.

  • Okay, so some example sentence.

  • You should speak with or to your boss.

  • So here you can choose "with," sounds more conversational; "to,"

  • sounds a little more direct.

  • You should speak with your boss.

  • You should speak to your boss.

  • Okay, past tense sentence.

  • I spoke with my manager, I spoke with my manager.

  • We shared information.

  • Last, have you spoken to HR?

  • Have you spoken to HR?

  • Here's a present perfect tense sentence, I've used "spoken" here.

  • Okay, good!

  • So that's a nice, maybe a wrap up of a few different verbs that are commonly confused

  • when talking about speech, let's go to some example sentences.

  • All right!

  • The first example sentence is... my friend _________ me my cooking was bad.

  • Okay, my cooking was bad, this is probably new information for a person.

  • Another hint, we have "me," there's a person here in the object position of the sentence.

  • So we can guess this should be the verb "tell," however we have this hint, my cooking was

  • bad, was bad, a past tense, so we should use the past tense form of "tell," "told" here.

  • Okay, next one.

  • They _________ I have to work tomorrow.

  • So here I have to work tomorrow, this is maybe just information,

  • it sounds like somebody passed some information to me.

  • So if I want to think of this as like reporting speech,

  • I would use the verb "say" in the past tense, "said."

  • So I know this should not be "tell" because there's no object here, I know it should not

  • be "speak" because there's no "with" and there's no "to" here either,

  • so I know this should be they said I have to work tomorrow.

  • Of course, this sentence could be, they told me I have to work tomorrow,

  • it sounds more like a command, in that case.

  • Here, they said I have to work tomorrow, it's very neutral and just a simple report of speech.

  • Okay, next one.

  • He really needs to _________ with his client.

  • So here is a big hint word we have the word "with" here, and we also have "client" here,

  • which shows maybe a business or a work setting, therefore,

  • we can guess the verb should be "speak."

  • He really needs to speak with his client.

  • Okay, great!

  • Next one.

  • Have you _________ your mother the news?

  • The news, so here, news is a big hint, new information, new information, and we have

  • a person, a person in the object position, a person is going to receive new information.

  • So, have you told your mother the news, is the correct sentence here.

  • So have you told bla bla bla? is actually a really good sentence for you to remember.

  • Have you told your mom about that?

  • Have you told your dad about that?

  • Have you told your dog about your new park?

  • I don't know.

  • So anytime you want to pass information or ask a question about information being passed,

  • please use "tell" to do that, like we've done here, have you told someone.

  • Okay, let's go to the next one.

  • We _________ about this at the last meeting.

  • So again, meeting here is a big hint that it is a work or a more formal situation,

  • we see that this is "the last meeting," so something that has finished already.

  • So let's use past tense "spoke."

  • We spoke about this at the last meeting.

  • Here, I have introduced something slightly different from this "speak with" or "speak to."

  • If you want to mention a topic rather than about a person,

  • we can use "speak about" a topic, speak about something.

  • We spoke about this at the last meeting.

  • We can use speak to introduce a topic, as well.

  • So please note that this is an option.

  • Okay, let's go to the next one.

  • You always _______ nice things.

  • So "always" here, I have a word which indicates a regular action,

  • something that is always true.

  • We talked about an example over here, though I used "never" here,

  • however, the grammar is still the same, we should still use the same grammar nuance,

  • the same grammar point here.

  • So let's use the present tense "say."

  • You always say nice things.

  • So someone always says positive things or someone always makes very positive comments,

  • like, for example, everybody in the comments on these videos,

  • everybody always says very nice things.

  • We can use "always say" to talk about something that a person always says.

  • Okay, finally, the same thing.

  • He always _________ the truth.

  • Okay, now this is tricky.

  • I've used "always" here, I used "always" in the previous one, as well, but the thing I

  • want to point out is this the truth at the end of the sentence, there's a set phrase in English,

  • we don't use "say" we actually use "tell" with the expression "the truth."

  • He always tells the truth.

  • So the expressions "tell the truth," and the opposite "tell a lie."

  • We always use the verb "tell" with this, you might hear I sometimes hear non-native speakers

  • of English, they "say a lie" or "say the truth," but this is not natural.

  • Please be sure to use "tell the truth" or "tell a lie";

  • we always use "tell" in these cases, so please be careful of that.

  • Okay, but we've talked about a lot of different ways to use these three verbs, and I hope

  • that it's a little bit more clear now when to use them, especially "say" and "tell,"

  • many people have a little bit of confusion between these two.

  • But "speak" is also quite useful as well.

  • Okay, so I hope that was useful for you.

  • If you have any questions, please be sure to let us know in the comment section below this video.

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  • Thanks very much for watching this lesson and I will see you again soon. Bye!

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