“Say” and “tell” have a difference in meaning but are both ways of reporting information or ideas that have been communicated verbally. The major difference is that when you use “say,” it is not necessary to specify with whom the thoughts or information were discussed. When you use “tell,” you must do so.

"Say" and "tell" – these two words are so simple yet so confusing. Today, let's review the main differences between them so we can better explain them to our students. "Say" focuses on words. "Tell" focuses on information. “Say" is for direct and indirect reported speech. "Tell” is for indirect speech only. We tell someone something.

While they seem similar, "say" and "tell" actually mean different things. "Say" means " to express a thought in words" while "tell" means " to inform." In other words, "say" focuses on the words people use to express themselves.

The words ‘say’ and ‘tell’ both are irregular verbs, as their past participle form, do not have a regular ‘ed’ ending, i.e. say becomes said and tell becomes told. While the word ‘ say ‘ is used to utter something verbally, ‘ tell ‘ can be used to give information, give evidence or orders to a person.

The word ‘say’ refers to the action of using words to convey some instruction, information, opinions or thoughts. The word ‘tell’ refers to giving some kind of instruction or information to someone specific, in speech or writing.