Say vs Tell

Penggunaan kata say dan tell lebih jelasnya dapat dilihat pada materi Reported Speech. :

• "I am going to the shop." - He said (that) he was going to the shop.
• "Sit down and open your books." - She told us to sit down and open our books.
• "Will you come with us tomorrow?" - He asked me if I would go with them the following day.

Namun, Orang-orang Inggris dan Amerika, jarang menggunakan kata-kata tersebut dalam Reporting Verbs. Mereka sering menggunakan kata lain untuk mengantikan say dan tell. Perhatikan contoh berikut ini:

• "I didn't do it!" - He said that he hadn't done it.
  (= He denied doing it.)
• "I'll bring the book back tomorrow." - She said that she would bring the book back the following day.
  (= She promised to bring the book back the following day.)
• "Please will you think about it some more?" - He asked me if I would think about it some more.
  (= He begged me to think about it some more.)
• "First you should put the money in the slot and then you should press the button." - She said that I should first put the money in the slot and then press the button.
  (= She explained what I should do.)

Strukturnya dapat dilihat di bawah ini:

• deny + that-clause ATAU
• deny + -ing form
• promise + infinitive
• beg + object + infinitive