Rama Van Basten

Say dan Tell mempunyai arti yang sedikit berbeda, yaitu "berkata" dan "mengatakan". Dalam tata bahasa (Grammar) Bahasa Inggris, terutama dalam topik Reported Speech, keduanya mempunyai pola yang berbeda. Silahkan ikuti penjelasannya di bawah ini:

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