Apa perbedaan "say" dan "tell" serta bagaimana contoh kalimatnya?

Kata kerja "say" dan "tell" memiliki susunan yang berbeda saat digunakan di dalam kalimat. Say memiliki makna mengatakan, sedangkan tell memiliki makna memberi tahu.

Kita menggunakan say jika tidak ada a direct object (obyek langsung).

Pola kalimatnya:

Subyek+say+(that)+subyek+verb

Contoh:

• James says that she is busy today.
• James says that he will be busy today.
• Jame said that he was busy today.
• James said that he would be busy today.

Kita menggunakan tell bila ada obyek tak langsung (kita menyebutkan orang yang kita maksudkan).

Pola kalimatnya:

Subyek+tell+indirect+(that)+subyek+verb

Contoh:

• My brother tells us that he is busy tomorrow.
• He told me that he was ready.
• Peter told his wife that the party was over.

Atau tell dapat diikuti oleh kelompok kata benda berikut ini:

• Tell a story
• tell a joke
• tell a secret
• tell a lie
• tell the truth
• tell (the) time

Contoh dalam kalimat:

• Simon told a story last night
• Simon told us a story last night
• Simon was punished because he told a lie.