"them" vs "what they are"

Question

Greetings.I was told we can say:(1) If you see mistakes in my text, please tell me (about them). — natural(2) If you see mistakes in my text, please say so (to me). — naturalAlso I was told the following sentences sound unnatural with “them” but natural with "what they are":(3) If you see mistakes in my text, please say them (to me). — unnatural(4) If you see mistakes in my text, please tell me them. — unnatural(5) If you see mistakes in my text, please say what they are. — natural(6) If you see mistakes in my text, please tell me what they are. — naturalI can't understand the difference between "them" and "what they are" here.Why is "what they are" in (5)&(6) natural but "them" in (3)&(4) unnatural?Thanks.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

loviii(3) If you see mistakes in my text, please say them (to me). — unnatural
(4) If you see mistakes in my text, please tell me them. — unnatural
(5) If you see mistakes in my text, please say what they are. — natural
(6) If you see mistakes in my text, please tell me what they are. — natural

These observations are correct.

There are very few nouns that naturally follow 'say' or 'tell'. Here are some of the more common ones:

say ____ to me/you/...
thanks; hello; goodbye; anything; something; nothing; that word

tell me/you/... ____
a story; a lie; the time; the truth

When we say that something sounds natural, we mean that everybody uses it, so we hear it often. When we say that it's unnatural, we mean that we don't hear it much or maybe not at all because nobody is saying it. So there is no grammar rule about a group of words sounding natural or unnatural. It's a matter of frequency of use.

You may hear Don't say that word to him or Always tell me the truth.

But if it's a matter of 'mistakes', you are very unlikely to hear I've made some mistakes. Tell me them or, even more unnatural, Say them to me. As we use 'tell', you can't "tell a mistake" as you can "tell a story".

So, except for a few cases like those shown above, the complement of 'say' or 'tell' is usually going to be an indirect question.

to say what you think; to tell (someone) what you think
to say how you feel; to tell (someone) how you feel
to say where you live; to tell (someone) where you live
to say when you are leaving; to tell (someone) when you are leaving

CJ

"them" vs "what they are"

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