tell – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of tell

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to tell sth from sb
Participle: told sth from sb
Gerund: telling sth from sb

Cognates

-

Indicative

Present

Itell sth from sb
youtell sth from sb
he;she;ittells sth from sb
wetell sth from sb
youtell sth from sb
theytell sth from sb

Perfect

Ihave told sth from sb
youhave told sth from sb
he;she;ithas told sth from sb
wehave told sth from sb
youhave told sth from sb
theyhave told sth from sb

Past

Itold sth from sb
youtold sth from sb
he;she;ittold sth from sb
wetold sth from sb
youtold sth from sb
theytold sth from sb

Pluperfect

Ihad told sth from sb
youhad told sth from sb
he;she;ithad told sth from sb
wehad told sth from sb
youhad told sth from sb
theyhad told sth from sb

Future

Iwill tell sth from sb
youwill tell sth from sb
he;she;itwill tell sth from sb
wewill tell sth from sb
youwill tell sth from sb
theywill tell sth from sb

Future Perfect

Iwill have told sth from sb
youwill have told sth from sb
he;she;itwill have told sth from sb
wewill have told sth from sb
youwill have told sth from sb
theywill have told sth from sb

Subjunctive

Present

Itell sth from sb
youtell sth from sb
he;she;ittell sth from sb
wetell sth from sb
youtell sth from sb
theytell sth from sb

Perfect

Ihave told sth from sb
youhave told sth from sb
he;she;ithave told sth from sb
wehave told sth from sb
youhave told sth from sb
theyhave told sth from sb

Imperfect

Itold sth from sb
youtold sth from sb
he;she;ittold sth from sb
wetold sth from sb
youtold sth from sb
theytold sth from sb

Pluperfect

Ihad told sth from sb
youhad told sth from sb
he;she;ithad told sth from sb
wehad told sth from sb
youhad told sth from sb
theyhad told sth from sb

Conditional

Present

Iwould tell sth from sb
youwould tell sth from sb
he;she;itwould tell sth from sb
wewould tell sth from sb
youwould tell sth from sb
theywould tell sth from sb

Perfect

Iwould have told sth from sb
youwould have told sth from sb
he;she;itwould have told sth from sb
wewould have told sth from sb
youwould have told sth from sb
theywould have told sth from sb

Imperative

youtell sth from sb
weLet's tell sth from sb
youtell sth from sb

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Iam telling sth from sb
youare telling sth from sb
he;she;itis telling sth from sb
weare telling sth from sb
youare telling sth from sb
theyare telling sth from sb

Perfect

Ihave been telling sth from sb
youhave been telling sth from sb
he;she;ithas been telling sth from sb
wehave been telling sth from sb
youhave been telling sth from sb
theyhave been telling sth from sb

Past

Iwas telling sth from sb
youwere telling sth from sb
he;she;itwas telling sth from sb
wewere telling sth from sb
youwere telling sth from sb
theywere telling sth from sb

Pluperfect

Ihad been telling sth from sb
youhad been telling sth from sb
he;she;ithad been telling sth from sb
wehad been telling sth from sb
youhad been telling sth from sb
theyhad been telling sth from sb

Future

Iwill be telling sth from sb
youwill be telling sth from sb
he;she;itwill be telling sth from sb
wewill be telling sth from sb
youwill be telling sth from sb
theywill be telling sth from sb

Future Perfect

Iwill have been telling sth from sb
youwill have been telling sth from sb
he;she;itwill have been telling sth from sb
wewill have been telling sth from sb
youwill have been telling sth from sb
theywill have been telling sth from sb

Conditional

Present

Iwould be telling sth from sb
youwould be telling sth from sb
he;she;itwould be telling sth from sb
wewould be telling sth from sb
youwould be telling sth from sb
theywould be telling sth from sb

Perfect

Iwould have been telling sth from sb
youwould have been telling sth from sb
he;she;itwould have been telling sth from sb
wewould have been telling sth from sb
youwould have been telling sth from sb
theywould have been telling sth from sb

Other

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).

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)