Eva Easton

Authentic American Pronunciation

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

 

 

1. The neighbor _____________ his dog to be quiet.
2. The gas station attendant _____________ the driver to  move closer to the pump.
3. The doctor _____________ that the elderly man needed special medication.
4. She _____________  us not to make noise.
5. He _____________ he would write to me, but he never did.
6. Have you _____________ everyone where the meeting is going to be?
7. The teacher _____________ the class there was going to be a test on Friday.
8. I repeated what he _____________ word for word.
9. My friend _____________ me that she was going to plant a garden.
10. My husband _____________ me that I had a typo on my blog page.
11. She _____________ her daughter the same bedtime story over and over.
12. I _____________ you guys to go home.  Why are you still here?
13. My father always _____________  us we had to work for a living.
14. The doctor _____________ the elderly man that he needed special medication.
15. The driver _____________ the gas station attendant to fill it up.
16. My friend _____________ that she was going to plant a garden.
17. I tried to write down everything he ____________ .
18. I wish you had _____________ me about the problem earlier. 
19. I should have listened to what my mother _____________ .
20. My father always _____________ we had to work for a living.

Note:  The exercise you just finished was in active voice.
Notice what happens to the verb ‘told‘ in passive voice.

active voice:  people told us
passive voice:  we were told

What is passive voice?

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