tell – English verb conjugation

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to tell
Participle: told
Gerund: telling

Cognates

-

Indicative

Present

I	tell
you	tell
he;she;it	tells
we	tell
you	tell
they	tell

Perfect

I	have told
you	have told
he;she;it	has told
we	have told
you	have told
they	have told

Past

I	told
you	told
he;she;it	told
we	told
you	told
they	told

Pluperfect

I	had told
you	had told
he;she;it	had told
we	had told
you	had told
they	had told

Future

I	will tell
you	will tell
he;she;it	will tell
we	will tell
you	will tell
they	will tell

Future Perfect

I	will have told
you	will have told
he;she;it	will have told
we	will have told
you	will have told
they	will have told

Subjunctive

Present

I	tell
you	tell
he;she;it	tell
we	tell
you	tell
they	tell

Perfect

I	have told
you	have told
he;she;it	have told
we	have told
you	have told
they	have told

Imperfect

I	told
you	told
he;she;it	told
we	told
you	told
they	told

Pluperfect

I	had told
you	had told
he;she;it	had told
we	had told
you	had told
they	had told

Conditional

Present

I	would tell
you	would tell
he;she;it	would tell
we	would tell
you	would tell
they	would tell

Perfect

I	would have told
you	would have told
he;she;it	would have told
we	would have told
you	would have told
they	would have told

Imperative

you	tell
we	Let's tell
you	tell

Indicative

Present

I	am telling
you	are telling
he;she;it	is telling
we	are telling
you	are telling
they	are telling

Perfect

I	have been telling
you	have been telling
he;she;it	has been telling
we	have been telling
you	have been telling
they	have been telling

Past

I	was telling
you	were telling
he;she;it	was telling
we	were telling
you	were telling
they	were telling

Pluperfect

I	had been telling
you	had been telling
he;she;it	had been telling
we	had been telling
you	had been telling
they	had been telling

Future

I	will be telling
you	will be telling
he;she;it	will be telling
we	will be telling
you	will be telling
they	will be telling

Future Perfect

I	will have been telling
you	will have been telling
he;she;it	will have been telling
we	will have been telling
you	will have been telling
they	will have been telling

Conditional

Present

I	would be telling
you	would be telling
he;she;it	would be telling
we	would be telling
you	would be telling
they	would be telling

Perfect

I	would have been telling
you	would have been telling
he;she;it	would have been telling
we	would have been telling
you	would have been telling
they	would have been telling

Verbs conjugated like 'tell'

foretell, resell, retell, sell, tell, undersell, betell, cross-sell, forthtell, mis-sell, missell, no-sell, onsell, overtell, presell, pretell, short-sell, supersell, unsell, untell, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)

Verbs similar to 'tell'

bell, cell, fell, hell, jell, mell, pell, sell, teld, till,

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

enumerate: count
to instruct or inform: inform
reveal: divulge, reveal, uncloak
inform someone in authority: rat out
to tell something (especially a secret) so that it may become generally known: bewray, bring to light, disclose, divulge, expose, let on, let out, let the cat out of the bag, make known, out, reveal, spill one's guts, spill the beans
to communicate knowledge or information: acquaint, apprise, enlighten, impart, inform, let know, notify
to determine the number (of objects in a group): count, enumerate, numerate, tally, tell off
narrate: recount, relate, describe, report
inform: impart, explain, communicate, acquaint, apprise, teach
announce: proclaim, publicize, ventilate, publish
speak: say, utter, express, word, mention, mouth
acknowledge: declare, disclose, reveal, divulge, betray, confess, own
urge: bid, command, order
deduce: ascertain, discern, distinguish, differentiate, compute, discriminate, reckon, calculate

Antonyms

narrate: withhold, conceal, hide, repress
announce: suppress, withhold, bury, stifle
acknowledge: deny, disavow, disclaim, renounce
urge: restrain, inhibit, repress, discourage

Additional Information

Cf. Old English sellan (sell) and tellan (tell).

Phrasal Verbs

~ against somebody, ~ against something, ~ somebody apart, ~ something apart, ~ something from something, ~ something from somebody, ~ somebody from something, ~ somebody from somebody, ~ off somebody, ~ somebody off, ~ on somebody,

Etymology

1. O.E. tellan "to reckon, calculate, consider, account," from P.Gmc. *taljanan "to mention in order" (cf. O.S. tellian, O.N. telja, O.Fris. tella "to count, tell," Du. tellen "to count, reckon," O.S. talon "to count, reckon," Dan. tale "to speak," O.H.G. zalon, Ger. zählen "to count, reckon"), from base *talo (see tale). Meaning "to narrate, relate" is from c.1000; that of "to make known by speech or writing, announce" is from c.1122. Sense of "to reveal or disclose" is from c.1400; that of "to act as an informer, to 'peach' " is recorded from 1901. Meaning "to order (someone to do something)" is from 1599. Original sense in teller and phrase to tell time. For sense evolution, cf. Fr. conter "to count," raconter "to recount;" It. contare, Sp. contar "to count, recount, narrate;" Ger. zählen "to count," erzählen "to recount, narrate."

"I tolde hyme so, & euer he seyde nay." [Thomas Hoccleve, "The Regiment of Princes," c.1412]

Telling "having effect or force" is from 1852.
2. From Middle English tellen (“to count, tell”), from Old English tellan (“to count, tell”), from Proto-West Germanic *talljan, from Proto-Germanic *taljaną, *talzijaną (“to count, enumerate”), from Proto-Germanic *talą, *talō (“number, counting”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol- (“calculation, fraud”).
3. Cognate with Saterland Frisian tälle (“to say; tell”), West Frisian telle (“to count”), West Frisian fertelle (“to tell, narrate”), Dutch tellen (“to count”) and Dutch vertellen (“to tell”), Low German tellen (“to count”), German zählen, Faroese telja, Swedish tala (“to speak”). More at tale. See: Middle English 'tellen', Old English 'tellan', Proto-Germanic '*taljaną', Frisian, Saterlandic 'tälle', Dutch 'tellen', Dutch 'vertellen', Low Saxon 'tellen', German, old spelling 'zählen', Faroese 'telja', Swedish 'tala'.

Verbs referencing "tell"

Hawai'i Creole English tell, Low Saxon tellen, Danish tælle, Cimbrian zelan, Alemannic German verzelle.

Sample Sentences

[...] wouldn't cheat. ’ Tom comes back, sure enough; I knew he would. Some low fellows, they say, said to him—Tom, why don't you make tracks for Canada ? ’ ’ Ah, master trusted me, and I couldn’t,’—they told me about it. I am sorry to part with Tom, I must say. You ought to let him cover the whole balance of the debt; and you would, Haley, if you had any conscience. ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
“ Hurrah ! bravo ! what a young ’ un ! ” said Haley; “ that chap's a case, I'll promise. Tell you what, ” said he, suddenly clapping his hand on Mr. Shelby's shoulder, “ fling in that chap, and I'll settle the business—I will. Come, now, if that ain't doing the thing up about the rightest ! ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
“ I tell you, Haley, this must not be spoken of; I say no, and I mean no, ” said Shelby, decidedly. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
[...] gal once, in Orleans, as was entirely ruined by this sort o ’ handling. The fellow that was trading for her didn't want her baby; and she was one of your real high sort, when her blood was up. I tell you, she squeezed up her child in her arms, and talked, and went on real awful. It kinder makes my blood run cold to think of ’ t; and when they carried off the child, and locked her up, she jest [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
[...] know why. I tried to thank him, but could n't. I could only point to my boots—or wherever I supposed my boots to be—and say in a plaintive voice, ‘Cork soles: ’ at the same time endeavouring, I am told, to sit down in the pool. Finding that I was quite insensible, and for the time a maniac, he humanely conducted me below. (American Notes for General Circulation)
“ O ! certainly, by all means, mum ! of course. But I'll tell you. I 'm in a devil of a hurry, and shall want to know, as soon as possible, what I may depend on, ” said he, rising and putting on his overcoat. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
[...] stop, as pleasant as I could,—he just kept right on. I begged him again, and then he turned on me, and began striking me. I held his hand, and then he screamed and kicked and ran to his father, and told him that I was fighting him. He came in a rage, and said he'd teach me who was my master; and he tied me to a tree, and cut switches for young master, and told him that he might whip me till [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
[...] and ran to his father, and told him that I was fighting him. He came in a rage, and said he'd teach me who was my master; and he tied me to a tree, and cut switches for young master, and told him that he might whip me till he was tired; — and he did do it ! If I don't make him remember it, some time ! ” and the brow of the young man grew dark, and his eyes burned with an expression that [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
[...] notions from you; and he says he won't let me come here any more, and that I shall take a wife and settle down on his place. At first he only scolded and grumbled these things; but yesterday he told me that I should take Mina for a wife, and settle down in a cabin with her, or he would sell me down river. ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
“ O, but master is so kind ! ” “ Yes, but who knows ? — he may die—and then he may be sold to nobody knows who. What pleasure is it that he is handsome, and smart, and bright ? I tell you, Eliza, that a sword will pierce through your soul for every good and pleasant thing your child is or has; it will make him worth too much for you to keep. ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
- It could be... - What? Joint Jalaja from our village... Yes, I know... tell me. (Moorane Krishnappa)
Since her last birthday, she's been telling her mother (Sector 36)
He told so many jokes. He just made everybody so comfortable in any room. (Marked Men)
- Uh, what? - Nancy told me all about your bet. - Oh. - Nothing wrong with her. (The Million Dollar Bet)
Your husband must have told you where it is. Huh? Mmm. (Evil Dead Burn)

tell – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of tell

Nominal Forms

Cognates

Indicative

Present

Perfect

Past

Pluperfect

Future

Future Perfect

Subjunctive

Present

Perfect

Imperfect

Pluperfect

Conditional

Present

Perfect

Imperative

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Perfect

Past

Pluperfect

Future

Future Perfect

Conditional

Present

Perfect

Other

Verbs conjugated like 'tell'

Verbs similar to 'tell'

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Additional Information

Phrasal Verbs

Etymology

Verbs referencing "tell"

Sample Sentences