Question:
What's the difference between 'say', 'tell' and 'speak'?
kevin!
2006-04-03 02:30:36 UTC
^_^
^_^
Five answers:
2006-04-03 02:46:09 UTC
You "say" a word, you "tell" a story and you "speak" a language.
Goddess of Grammar
2006-04-03 10:25:46 UTC
The difference is what comes after each of them.



"Say" introduces a direct or indirect quotation, but doesn't tell you who is listening.



He said, "I'm tired" or he said that he was tired.



"Tell" introduces an indirect quotation (although the quotation may be understood, not stated) and mentions the hearer.



He told his wife he was tired.

I told you so.



An exception would be "tell a story"/"tell a lie"--but in that case it's usually clear that someone's listening.



"Speak" is usually intransitive, or at least not specific about what is being said--the point is that and HOW something is being spoken.



He speaks clearly.

She speaks Russian.

You always speak out of turn.
2006-04-03 11:34:50 UTC
One will SAY something to someone.



One will TELL someone something.



One will SPEAK to someone about something.
Mathur
2006-04-03 09:33:38 UTC
Try this site:



http://www.bbc.co.uk/albanian/specials/1455_questions/page12.shtml
idontcare.
2006-04-03 13:26:28 UTC
WELL THEY HAVE DIFFERENT SPELLING AND NUMBER OF LETTERS AND UMMM..LOOK AT THE DICTIONARY!


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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