| 词组 | tell |
| 释义 | tell Tell is a common verb which is used in several different ways. Its past tense and past participle is told, not 'telled'. ◊ information If someone tells you something, they give you some information. You usually refer to this information by using a 'that'-clause or a 'wh'-clause. Tell Father the carpenter has come. I told her what the doctor had said. You can sometimes refer to the information that is given by using a noun group as the direct object of tell. When the direct object is not a pronoun, you put the indirect object first. She told him the news. They immediately told him the answer. I never told her a thing. When the direct object is a pronoun, you usually put it first. You put 'to' in front of the indirect object. I've never told this to anyone else in my whole life. When you are referring back to information that has already been mentioned, you use so after tell. For example, you say 'I didn't agree with him and I told him so'. You do not say 'I didn't agree with him and I told him it'. She knows that you and I adore each other. I have told her so. 'Then how do you know she's well?' ---'She told me so.' ◊ stories, jokes, lies You say that someone tells a story or a joke. She told me the story of her life. He has a way of screwing up his face when he is telling a joke. You can also say that someone 'makes' or 'cracks' a joke. For more information, see entry at ↑ You say that someone tells a lie. We told a lot of lies. If someone is not lying, you say that they are telling the truth. We knew that he was telling the truth. I wondered why I hadn't told Mary the truth. When you use tell to talk about stories, jokes, or lies, the indirect object can go either after the direct object or in front of it. His friend told me this story. Many hours had passed when Karen finished telling her story to Kitty. He thinks he knows why his mother told him a lie. She would never tell a lie to anyone. ◊ orders If you tell someone to do something, you order or instruct them to do it. When tell has this meaning, it is followed by an object and a 'to'-infinitive. Tell Martha to build a fire. They told us to put on our seat-belts. ◊ WARNING You do not use tell like this without an object. You do not say, for example, 'They told to put on our seat-belts'. ◊ recognizing the truth If you can tell what is happening or what is true, you are able to judge correctly what is happening or what is true. I can usually tell when I'm being lied to. I couldn't tell what they were thinking. If you look into the bag, you will be able to tell which pebble I took by the colour of the one that is left. Note that when tell has this meaning, you usually use 'can', 'could', or 'be able to' with it. |
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