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Henry74 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Say - tell

Hello,

Sometimes I feel like I'm forgetting the basics.
A) Can I use "say" with an infinitive?

- What did she say?
- She said to remind you that you have soccer practice at 5.

B) Can I use "tell" when I'm quoting someone?

- She told me, "You have soccer practice at 5."

If I had to guess, I'd say that B) doesn't work. I think you would say She said, "You have...", or She said to me, "You have..." in case the fact that you were the receipient was of significance.
About A), I think it works, but I'm not completely sure.

Can you please help me?

Thanks
H.
  

Top answer

When you have been asked a question and even though it is asking what somebody else has said, you don't need to use quote marks. You can simply give the question an answer based on the facts of what was said: She told me to tell you that soccer practice starts at 5 This is because the questioner is asking YOU the question

— Maggie Starling

  • When you have been asked a question and even though it is asking what somebody else has said, you don't need to use quote marks.
  • You can simply give the question an answer based on the facts of what was said: She told me to tell you that soccer practice starts at 5 This is because the questioner is asking YOU the question
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9 Answers
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When you have been asked a question and even though it is asking what somebody else has said, you don't need to use quote marks. You can simply give the question an answer based on the facts of what was said:

She told me to tell you that soccer practice starts at 5

This is because the questioner is asking YOU the question
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Maggie Starlingyou don't need to use quote marks.
Thank you Maggie.
Does that mean that I don't need them but I can use them if I feel like it, or is that a way of saying that it would be incorrect or unidiomatic to use a direct quotation with "tell"?

What about A)? Does that work?

H.
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You don't really need them in the context I have quoted - not even if you feel like it Emotion: rolleyes
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Forgive me if I'm a little slow, but I still don't understand your answer. Emotion: sad
Let me try a more direct approach. Is my line B) corre
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I would not say that it was idiomatic as the sentence is based on fact and not figure of speech

Can I ask please, are you asking because you want to write the sentence or speak it so that I can clarify whether you need quotation marks
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Henry74A) Can I use "say" with an infinitive?- What did she say?- She said to remind you that you have soccer practice at 5.
Yes. That's fine.

She said to buy some extra onions.
He said to give you this note.

Also, if you mention the recipient of the communication:

She told me to buy some extra onions.
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Maggie StarlingI would not say that it was idiomatic as the sentence is based on fact and not figure of speech
You seem to be confusing "idiomatic" (natural and commonly used) with "idiom" (a word group that has a special meaning different from what might be expected from the individual words taken literally).

CJ
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Yes CJ, I am.

I am also now confused with the OP as I understood the question to be about quotations/quotation marks

I'm going to leave this one for now
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Thank you Jim. I got it.

H.
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