Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🗣️ To say 👆 To order 📖 To narrate 🚨 To inform on 👁️ To recognize
to tell

to tell

∞ 1.0
Order someone to do something
  • verb
  • /tɛl/
translation icon : ordenar
  • Each one gets a card, and he tells them to call him later that day.
  • tell the truth
  • tell your mom
  • tell your lawyers

Very simply, I'm going to tell you to go deep.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • How dare you tell me to do this?

  • At some point in the introduction, teachers tell students the goals for the lesson.

    Academic text (2011)

  • During my study, I asked Nick to tell me what he did when he noticed a mistake.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Never let anybody tell you that you can't.

  • You can't tell me how to run my business.

    Walking with Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Planet 3D (2014)

  • You translators ought to tell the foreigners that.

  • The manager will tell the team what their responsibilities are for the project.

  • During the meeting, the teacher will tell the students how to complete their assignments.

  • Before the event starts, the coordinator will tell everyone when to begin.

Synonyms

to order
vsto tell
902 1.3

To tell someone to do something in an official way

is an authoritative instruction without the sharp force of a formal command
to direct
vsto tell
240 1.6

To tell someone what to do or show them the way

is specifically an authority instruction, not just general guidance or directions
to instruct
vsto tell
188 2.8

To tell someone to do something, often as an order

gives authority to act rather than focusing on procedural steps
to enjoin
vsto tell
  • Formal
13 8.6

To officially order someone to do or not do something, often by a court

is an authoritative instruction that applies to actions generally, not just bans

Idioms

tell you the truth
  • Informal
227 4.5

Say you are being honest before you speak

let me tell you
  • Informal
64 4.4

To start a story or show that what follows is important

to tell the truth
  • Informal
48 3.2

To say something that is true even if it is surprising

time will tell
9 3.3

What happens becomes clear later

pray tell
  • Informal
7 8.8

A polite, often joking way to ask for information after a surprising statement

to tell a tale
3 3.5

Say a story about something that happened or show signs of it

to tell tales out of school
  • Informal
1 8.4

To tell secrets about someone to other people

does Macy's tell Gimbel's?
  • Archaic
9.9

A question people use to show someone would not tell a rival or that something will not happen

piss on my leg and tell me it's raining
  • Offensive
9.9

To lie to someone in an obvious way while expecting them to believe it

to tell it to the judge
  • Informal
8.7

Make an excuse that nobody believes and only a judge cares about

to tell it to the marines
  • Archaic
9.6

Say you do not believe someone's story

to tell its own tale
7.2

To show its history without using words

to tell someone where to shove it
  • Offensive
9.9

Rudely say to someone that you want them to go away

Phrasal Verbs

to tell the truth
814 2.7

Say what really happened without hiding facts or lying

to tell a story
84 1.1

To describe things that happened, real or made up, to other people

to tell stories
73 1.4

Talk about events, real or imagined, to other people

to tell all
  • Literature
47 5.6

Say all private things about a person or event

to tell apart
41 3.0

To notice a difference between two similar things

to tell on
  • Informal
35 4.4

To report to a person in charge that someone did something wrong so they get in trouble

to tell off
  • Informal
13 4.2

To speak angrily to someone for doing something wrong

to tell fortunes
4 7.6

Say what will happen to someone by reading palms, cards, or tea leaves

to tell on
1 6.2

To hurt the body or mind over time

Compounds

tell-all book
  • Literature
6 4.7

A book that reveals private details about people

How Authoritative

to command
307 2.7
to instruct
188 2.8
to tell
∞ 1.0
to ask
∞ 1.0
to request
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

tell infinitive
telling present participle
tells third person singular
told past
told past participle

Etymology

Tell comes from the same old English root tellan meaning 'to say' or 'to count', so to tell someone to do something is simply to 'say' it to them as an instruction. That's why tell can mean to give orders or directions.