Difference between said and told

[Fernando]

Test No. errors/inter-3 "Sally and her Letter", question 2

She said her boss that she would be unable to come to work the following day because her car had broken down.

(a) said
(b) would be
(c) to
(d) had

Test No. errors/inter-3 "Sally and her Letter", answer 2

She told her boss that she would be unable to come to work the following day because her car had broken down.

Correct entry: told
The error was: (a) said
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What is the difference between said and told?

[Alan]

Hi Fernando

In this particular sentence you would have to use said as follows: She said to her boss that ..

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Christina328]

[Lost_Soul]

The same thing happens to me !!!

[Alan]

HI,

Said to is not one of the choices.

Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms

[Yankee]

Hi Alan

I assume that lost_soul and Christina's son both mean that they selected "said" as the error and then typed in "said to" as the correction. But doing that results in the software telling you that 'your answer is incorrect'.

Am I correct in assuming that it's only possible to program in one correct answer per question in the tests?

................

Hi lost_soul

Although "said to" would be grammatically correct, it is definitely more natural / typical to use the word "told" in that sentence.

Amy
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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Torsten]

Hi Amy,

We can add several correct answer options to each of the error sentences so said to will be correct in this question too.

TOEIC listening, photographs: A woman in the studio

[Yankee]

Hi Torsten

That sounds great! :D

Amy
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Nini07]

how about this one which is correct "Someone once told this to me" or "Someone once said this to me" ?.. thank you. :)

[Mojo7301]

Told is a transitive verb. It always needs an object. If you use told without object, you are making a mistake. E.g. He told me that I am a good man(correct)(me is the object). He told that I am a good man(wrong). But said can be used without an object. He said that I am a good man(correct). I said her that we have to go there.

In brief:

Told vs Said

• Told and said are words having similar meanings with different usages

• They are used in different contexts also

• Told is a transitive verb that needs an object in the sentence

• Said can be used with exclamation marks.

Mojo
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Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.

[Nini07]