When you say something, you use your voice to produce words. The past tense and -ed participle of say is said /sed/.
You use say when you are quoting directly the words that someone has spoken.
In writing, you can use many other verbs instead of say when you are quoting someone's words.
In spoken English, you usually use say.
Be Careful!
In speech, you mention the person and say before quoting their words. Don't say, for example, ''What shall we do?' he said to me' in spoken English.
You can use it after said to refer to the words spoken by someone.
If you are referring in a general way to what someone has expressed, rather than their actual words, use so, not 'it'. For example, say 'I disagree with him and I said so'. Don't say 'I disagree with him and I said it'.
You can report what someone has said without quoting them directly using say and a that-clause.
Be Careful!
Don't use 'say' with an indirect object. For example, don't say 'She said me that Mr Rai had left.' Say 'She said that Mr Rai had left' or 'She told me that Mr Rai had left.'
If you are mentioning the hearer as well as the speaker, you usually use tell, rather than 'say'. The past tense and -ed participle of tell is told. For example, instead of saying 'I said to him that his mother had arrived', say 'I told him that his mother had arrived'.
You say that someone tells a story, lie, or joke.
Be Careful!
Don't say that someone 'says' a story, lie, or joke. Don't say, for example 'You're saying lies now'.
Don't say that someone 'says' a question. Say that they ask a question.
Don't say that someone 'says' an order or instruction. Say that they give an order or instruction.
If you want to say that someone describes someone else in a particular way, you can use say followed by a that-clause. For example, you can say 'He said that I was a liar'. You can also say that someone calls someone something. For example, you can say 'He called me a liar'.
Don't use say to mention what someone is discussing. Don't say, for example, 'He said about his business'. Say 'He talked about his business'.
When you speak, you use your voice to produce words. The past tense of speak is spoke. The -ed participle is spoken.
Don't use 'speak' to report what someone says. Don't say, for example, 'He spoke that the doctor had arrived'. Say 'He said that the doctor had arrived'.
If you mention the person who is being spoken to as well as what was said, use tell.
Imperative |
---|
say |
say |
Noun | 1. | say - the chance to speak; "let him have his say" chance, opportunity - a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances; "the holiday gave us the opportunity to visit Washington"; "now is your chance" |
Verb | 1. | say - express in words; "He said that he wanted to marry her"; "tell me what is bothering you"; "state your opinion"; "state your name" present, lay out, represent - bring forward and present to the mind; "We presented the arguments to him"; "We cannot represent this knowledge to our formal reason" misstate - state something incorrectly; "You misstated my position" answer, reply, respond - react verbally; "She didn't want to answer"; "answer the question"; "We answered that we would accept the invitation" preface, premise, precede, introduce - furnish with a preface or introduction; "She always precedes her lectures with a joke"; "He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution" give tongue to, utter, express, verbalise, verbalize - articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise; "She expressed her anger"; "He uttered a curse" say - state as one's opinion or judgement; declare; "I say let's forget this whole business" get out - express with difficulty; "I managed to get out a few words" declare - state emphatically and authoritatively; "He declared that he needed more money to carry out the task he was charged with" declare - make a declaration (of dutiable goods) to a customs official; "Do you have anything to declare?" note, remark, mention, observe - make mention of; "She observed that his presentation took up too much time"; "They noted that it was a fine day to go sailing" explain - define; "The committee explained their plan for fund-raising to the Dean" give - convey or reveal information; "Give one's name" |
2. | ![]() plead - make an allegation in an action or other legal proceeding, especially answer the previous pleading of the other party by denying facts therein stated or by alleging new facts | |
3. | say - express a supposition; "Let us say that he did not tell the truth"; "Let's say you had a lot of money--what would you do?" speculate - talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason to reach a conclusion; "We were speculating whether the President had to resign after the scandal" | |
4. | say - have or contain a certain wording or form; "The passage reads as follows"; "What does the law say?" read - interpret something that is written or printed; "read the advertisement"; "Have you read Salman Rushdie?" | |
5. | say - give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority; "I said to him to go home"; "She ordered him to do the shopping"; "The mother told the child to get dressed" direct - command with authority; "He directed the children to do their homework" instruct - give instructions or directions for some task; "She instructed the students to work on their pronunciation" request - ask (a person) to do something; "She asked him to be here at noon"; "I requested that she type the entire manuscript" send for, call - order, request, or command to come; "She was called into the director's office"; "Call the police!" warn - ask to go away; "The old man warned the children off his property" | |
6. | say - speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way; "She pronounces French words in a funny way"; "I cannot say `zip wire'"; "Can the child sound out this complicated word?" twang - pronounce with a nasal twang devoice - utter with tense vocal chords raise - pronounce (vowels) by bringing the tongue closer to the roof of the mouth; "raise your `o'" lilt - articulate in a very careful and rhythmic way palatalise, palatalize - pronounce a consonant with the tongue against the palate nasalise, nasalize - speak nasally or through the nose; "In this part of the country, people tend to nasalize" mispronounce, misspeak - pronounce a word incorrectly; "She mispronounces many Latinate words" aspirate - pronounce with aspiration; of stop sounds retroflex - articulate (a consonant) with the tongue curled back against the palate; "Indian accents can be characterized by the fact that speakers retroflex their consonants" subvocalise, subvocalize - articulate without making audible sounds; "she was reading to herself and merely subvocalized" syllabise, syllabize - utter with distinct articulation of each syllable; "The poet syllabized the verses he read" drawl - lengthen and slow down or draw out; "drawl one's vowels" lisp - speak with a lisp accent, accentuate, stress - put stress on; utter with an accent; "In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word" vowelise, vowelize, vocalise, vocalize - pronounce as a vowel; "between two consonants, this liquid is vowelized" click - produce a click; "Xhosa speakers click" trill - pronounce with a trill, of the phoneme `r'; "Some speakers trill their r's" sibilate - pronounce with an initial sibilant flap - pronounce with a flap, of alveolar sounds explode - cause to burst as a result of air pressure; of stop consonants like /p/, /t/, and /k/ roll - pronounce with a roll, of the phoneme /r/; "She rolls her r's" | |
7. | say - communicate or express nonverbally; "What does this painting say?"; "Did his face say anything about how he felt?" say - indicate; "The clock says noon" convey - make known; pass on, of information; "She conveyed the message to me" | |
8. | say - utter aloud; "She said `Hello' to everyone in the office" give tongue to, utter, express, verbalise, verbalize - articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise; "She expressed her anger"; "He uttered a curse" | |
9. | say - state as one's opinion or judgement; declare; "I say let's forget this whole business" | |
10. | say - recite or repeat a fixed text; "Say grace"; "She said her `Hail Mary'" recite - repeat aloud from memory; "she recited a poem"; "The pupil recited his lesson for the day" | |
11. | say - indicate; "The clock says noon" record, register, read, show - indicate a certain reading; of gauges and instruments; "The thermometer showed thirteen degrees below zero"; "The gauge read `empty'" say - communicate or express nonverbally; "What does this painting say?"; "Did his face say anything about how he felt?" |