telling vs. saying

Question

What do you think is the best way to explain the differences of these two words?

¿Cuál crees que es la mejor manera de explicar la diferencia entre estas dos palabras?

Do you want to tell a hispanohablante about the English words "telling" and "saying" or an English speaker about the Spanish words "contar" and "decir"? - Moe, May 13, 2014

A un hispanohablante. - emilyher618, May 13, 2014

Icanot explain my answer in Spanish! Or at least, I have some cooking to do and haven'r got the time to try tonight. - annierats, May 13, 2014

I am with Moe. :) - chileno, May 13, 2014

Answer 1

'To tell' often contains a bit of hidden triumph: ' I told you so!' ( meaning, I knew you were mistaken, I'm cleverer than you)

I often told my brother that rock-climbing was dangerous when you've been drinking but he never paid any attention to what I said.. ( here said is used to avoid repetition of 'told'. )

It's just as I said. This stresses more that the facts were correct.

The police-officer said we were parked in the wrong place. ( Just a statement)

The police officer told us off for being in the wrong place. A much stronger statement, he is very right, you are very wrong. Probably he will fine you now.

Actually, I'm not sure this is correct, I just started writing, but now I'm thinking about what I've said I may be wrong, what did I tell you? I never know what I'm saying but I'm sure good at telling other people what to do ( ordering them about.)

To complicate matters you ' tell the time' and you' tell right from wrong'. But you just say Good morning or goodbye!

Hidden triumph lol - classic :) - Kiwi-Girl, May 13, 2014

So the kids went hungry............. ;^) - chileno, May 13, 2014

I guess "to tell off" means to tell someone to go literally. In the U.S. it is to tell someone where to go in the abstract. - 00551866, May 14, 2014

Well Andre, we tell a story, we naever say a story, so the whole thing is raterhr loose. - annierats, May 14, 2014

The audience is implied with tell. You can practice by saying the story alone so you can tell it correctly at a later time. If no one will hear what was said you did not tell you only said. - 00551866, May 14, 2014

Answer 2

There is an excellent blog with all the usual problems ever/never hear/listen hope/wait and he has covered Say/tell too. It is excellent with good explanations and exercises. It is also helpful for those learning Spanish - alot is written in Spanish.

Say or Tell

Appreciated Mardle. Very usefull.....thanks. - britisk, May 13, 2014

Nice link :) - 00551866, May 14, 2014

Answer 3

The simplest in a nut shell explanation is that tell requires a direct object (transitive verb) and say does not (intransitive verb).

If you are telling things then someone needs to be listening and if no one is listening you are just saying things.

Si quiere usar "telling" necesita otra persona para escuchar, si no hay nadie escuchando directamente usar "saying".

My more or less Spanish. Also, keep in mind this just the most basic explanation that you can elaborate on as needed.

I told myself tod do it, but I didn't listen to myself.. - annierats, May 14, 2014

Listen is used in the context of heed or obey. But myself as the DO shows you were there to listen or receive the action. - 00551866, May 14, 2014