Say e tell sono due verbi irregolari che si usano per il ‘reported speech’, il discorso indiretto. Queste parole sono usate in due modi diversi.
“Say”
Si usa per raccontare esattamente cosa ha detto una persona
“Tell”
Si usa per comunicare il contenuto / messaggio principale di una persona
?She said, “Hi, my name is Carla and I am an architect.”
?She told me that she’s been working on many architecture projects over the last few months.
?My mom told me not to leave the turkey in the oven much longer than the recommended time. She said that the turkey can dry out and then it’s disgusting.
?The recruiter said that I would hear back from the company in a few weeks. He told me to check my email and phone every day to make sure I haven’t missed any important communications.
?Sia “say” che “tell” vogliono il complemento oggetto.
?”I told her that I really needed help from someone.”
?”She said she didn’t have time to help me.”
? NON si dice mai “She said me…” non c’è bisogno del complemento oggetto indiretto, ma se vuoi specificare, devi mettere il ‘to’ prima dell’oggetto = “She said TO me….”
“Tell” prende sia il complemento oggetto che il complemento oggetto indiretto. (complemento oggetto indiretto = indirect objects = complemento di termine)
?They told us they didn’t know how to get to the church we were looking for.
