Difference between said and told

Fernando · Wed Sep 28, 2005 17:52 pm *Difference between said and told*

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 · Wed Sep 28, 2005 18:28 pm *Difference between said and told*

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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Christina328 · Tue May 02, 2006 11:32 am *Difference between said and told*

lost_soul · Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:37 am *Difference between said and told*

The same thing happens to me !!!
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Alex

How much upchuck would a woodchuck upchuck if a woodchuck could upchuck ?

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Alan · Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:05 am *Said*

HI,

Said to is not one of the choices.

Alan
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Yankee · Thu Sep 21, 2006 13:32 pm *Difference between said and told*

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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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

Torsten · Thu Sep 21, 2006 16:52 pm *Said to vs. told*

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.
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TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

Yankee · Thu Sep 21, 2006 17:07 pm *Difference between said and told*

Hi Torsten

That sounds great! Very Happy

Amy
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Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

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