In the second article of this series, we’re going to be looking at the following verbs that are often used incorrectly: meet/know and say/tell. Keep reading for tips on how to improve your English.

Meet/Know

The verb meet can be used in two ways.

During first introductions:

“I met him last year.”

“I’m pleased to meet you.”

“Come on. Let’s meet your new family.”

To mean getting together with people you know:

“I’m meeting up with friends from high school.”

“I have to take care of something and then I’ll meet you there.”

“My friend wants to meet you for coffee to help you with the application process.”

The verb know can be used in two ways.

To imply knowledge, experience, or skill:

“She knows everything about musical instruments.”

“You can know everything in the world and still make bad decisions.”

To imply familiarity with a person:

“Do you know Hasan? He works in the same department as you.”

“No, I don’t know him.”

“We barely know each other.”

“I don’t know her that well.”

“Know” can’t be used to imply a first introduction.

INCORRECT: I knew her last week.

CORRECT: I met her last week. 

Why not take a Cambly lesson to see if you can apply what you’ve learned to your spoken English!

Say/Tell

Tell: to give information to a person 

Since tell is used to mean one person communicating information to another or others, it is always followed by a pronoun or person: me, you, him, her, us, them, the driver, Jane etc.

“I told him to clean the house.”

“I told you not to give my number to anyone.”

“I wish you had told me.”

“I told you there was nothing going on between us.”

We can use the following sentence structures with the verb say:

Say (something):

“He said that.”

“Alex said nothing but his friend was mad at him anyway.”

Say that (something):

“He said that his new car is awesome.”

“Daddy says that I look just like mom.”

Say (something) to (a person):

“What did your parents say to you when you skipped class?”

“I won’t say anything to John about this subject.”

(something) a person said:

“Nice to meet you,” she said.

“It’s wonderful!” said Dorothy.

Remember, we use say to communicate something, and tell to communicate something to someone.

INCORRECT: I said her that I was coming.

CORRECT: I told her that I was coming.

CORRECT: I said that I was coming.

See you soon for the next article of this series and how to improve your English!