tell – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of tell

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to tell sb apart
Participle: told sb apart
Gerund: telling sb apart

Cognates

-

Indicative

Present

Itell sb apart
youtell sb apart
he;she;ittells sb apart
wetell sb apart
youtell sb apart
theytell sb apart

Perfect

Ihave told sb apart
youhave told sb apart
he;she;ithas told sb apart
wehave told sb apart
youhave told sb apart
theyhave told sb apart

Past

Itold sb apart
youtold sb apart
he;she;ittold sb apart
wetold sb apart
youtold sb apart
theytold sb apart

Pluperfect

Ihad told sb apart
youhad told sb apart
he;she;ithad told sb apart
wehad told sb apart
youhad told sb apart
theyhad told sb apart

Future

Iwill tell sb apart
youwill tell sb apart
he;she;itwill tell sb apart
wewill tell sb apart
youwill tell sb apart
theywill tell sb apart

Future Perfect

Iwill have told sb apart
youwill have told sb apart
he;she;itwill have told sb apart
wewill have told sb apart
youwill have told sb apart
theywill have told sb apart

Subjunctive

Present

Itell sb apart
youtell sb apart
he;she;ittell sb apart
wetell sb apart
youtell sb apart
theytell sb apart

Perfect

Ihave told sb apart
youhave told sb apart
he;she;ithave told sb apart
wehave told sb apart
youhave told sb apart
theyhave told sb apart

Imperfect

Itold sb apart
youtold sb apart
he;she;ittold sb apart
wetold sb apart
youtold sb apart
theytold sb apart

Pluperfect

Ihad told sb apart
youhad told sb apart
he;she;ithad told sb apart
wehad told sb apart
youhad told sb apart
theyhad told sb apart

Conditional

Present

Iwould tell sb apart
youwould tell sb apart
he;she;itwould tell sb apart
wewould tell sb apart
youwould tell sb apart
theywould tell sb apart

Perfect

Iwould have told sb apart
youwould have told sb apart
he;she;itwould have told sb apart
wewould have told sb apart
youwould have told sb apart
theywould have told sb apart

Imperative

youtell sb apart
weLet's tell sb apart
youtell sb apart

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Iam telling sb apart
youare telling sb apart
he;she;itis telling sb apart
weare telling sb apart
youare telling sb apart
theyare telling sb apart

Perfect

Ihave been telling sb apart
youhave been telling sb apart
he;she;ithas been telling sb apart
wehave been telling sb apart
youhave been telling sb apart
theyhave been telling sb apart

Past

Iwas telling sb apart
youwere telling sb apart
he;she;itwas telling sb apart
wewere telling sb apart
youwere telling sb apart
theywere telling sb apart

Pluperfect

Ihad been telling sb apart
youhad been telling sb apart
he;she;ithad been telling sb apart
wehad been telling sb apart
youhad been telling sb apart
theyhad been telling sb apart

Future

Iwill be telling sb apart
youwill be telling sb apart
he;she;itwill be telling sb apart
wewill be telling sb apart
youwill be telling sb apart
theywill be telling sb apart

Future Perfect

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

Conditional

Present

Iwould be telling sb apart
youwould be telling sb apart
he;she;itwould be telling sb apart
wewould be telling sb apart
youwould be telling sb apart
theywould be telling sb apart

Perfect

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

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)