Keeping this in view, where is tell used?
Tell normally takes an indirect object (one or more people = io) and a direct object (the reported clause = do): The boy told [IO]us [DO]he didn't want any money. However, we use tell without an indirect object with words such as the truth, a lie, a joke, a story: You should never tell a lie.
Similarly, what did they tell or told? Clearly the first is correct. In the first, the past tense is achieved by “did tell.” Did is the past tense of the infinitive form “to do,” it is conjugated as “do, did, done,” and here it is used to create the emphatic form of the verb “to tell”—”do tell, did tell, told.” I did what?
Also Know, how do you use told in a sentence?
Told sentence examples
- I told you not to give my number to anyone.
- I've told myself that a hundred times.
- Has Alex told you about the party?
- They told him about the wonderful things they had seen there.
- Mom told me that Dad forgave her for her affair with Señor Medena.
- Has anybody ever told you that you're beautiful?
When we use say or tell?
We use say and tell in different ways in reported speech. Say focuses on the words someone said and tell focuses more on the content or message of what someone said: 'Hello,' she said. Not: 'Hello,' she told.
