said … told

I wonder how an American pronounces…

said … told
/sɛd/ … /towld/

said
/sɛd/

Do you know what she said to me?
She said, “Good-bye.”
She said good-bye to me.
She said that she was leaving.

You have no trouble using this verb correctly.

told
/towld/

However, the verb ‘told‘ can be a problem.

The two verbs have the same meaning,
but different sentence structure.

told + person you are talking to

You have to mention the person you are talking to…
immediately after the verb…no preposition ‘to’.

told me … told you … told him, her, it … told us … told them
told Mary … told my sister … told everyone … told the audience

This pattern applies to all forms of
the verb:  tell … told … telling

told
/towld/

11 things I wish someone had told me in my twenties.

told
/towld/

Stuff Mom Never told You

told
/towld/

A little bird told me.

There are a few phrases where
the pronoun or noun is (optional).

told (us) the truth
told (everyone) a lie
told (me) a secret
told (his daughter) a story
told (them) the time

And now it’s your turn.
In this quiz, we use only past tense forms.
Fill each blank with the correct word.
said … told