How do you use the word "tell" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "tell": I can't tell her now. It's not that simple anymore. You wanted to tell me about freedom?

Tell Meaning

[tʰɔː]

Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

verbMental senses related to determining, reckoning, or perceiving

verbMental senses related to determining, reckoning, or perceiving, To determine the number, amount, or value of [something].

Sentence Examples

I can't tell her now. It's not that simple anymore.

You wanted to tell me about freedom?

I didn't tell him anything except that I needed the money.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

say state recite

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

Please ____ me what exactly happened at the team meeting last night.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

Please ____ me if you have any questions about the instructions for the assignment before you start your work today.

Word Origin & History

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”). 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.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"And in his lap a masse of coyne he told, And turned vpsidowne, to feede his eye A couetous desire with his huge threasury." — 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

"Well fare the Arabians, who so richly pay The things they traffic for with wedge of gold, Whereof a man may easily in a day Tell that which may maintain him all his life." — c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act I:

"Only He who made them can tell the number of the stars, and mark the place of each in the order of the one great dominant spiral." — 1875, Hugh MacMillan, The Sunday Magazine:

"Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile; he could not tell what this prisoner might do." — 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

"“[…]Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. Oh, dear, there's so much to tell you, so many warnings to give you, but all that must be postponed for the moment.”" — 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

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