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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Tell a Lie or Say a Lie

Hi,

Why don't we use " say a lie " instead of " tell a lie" ?

I have always understood that "tell" always requires an object like "tell him/told him" but we always use " tell a lie".

Can someone explain this?

Thanks,

MadLearner
  

Top answer

No, you don't need that kind of object. You can use these: He told a lie / a story / the truth He told a lie / a story / the truth (to me). The verb 'say' requires a direct quote or a clause complement: He said (to me) 'I'm leaving'.

— Mister Micawber

  • No, you don't need that kind of object.
  • You can use these: He told a lie / a story / the truth He told a lie / a story / the truth (to me).
  • The verb 'say' requires a direct quote or a clause complement: He said (to me) 'I'm leaving'.
  • He said (to me) that he was leaving .
  • As to why the verbs are different: it is an accident of grammar history.
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1 Answers
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No, you don't need that kind of object. You can use these:

He told Emotion: it wasnt me a lie / a story / the truth
He
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