He said me: say, tell, and the person in between

Objective & content

This Grammar Fix video (about 3 minutes) fixes one mistake: a person placed directly after say, or left out after tell. Freya and Cody give the rule: tell needs a person right after it (tell me, tell her, tell us) and never takes to. Say never takes a person directly: you say something, or you say it to someone. They add explain, which works like say (Explain it to me). Students repeat two sentences with the hosts, then play a three-round game.

Pedagogical guide

French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Polish speakers all make this mistake. French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese use one verb for both (dire, decir, dire, dizer), and it takes a person directly. German and Polish also mark the person without a preposition, so they copy it. Dutch learners do not transfer it: their verb for say already needs a word before the person. Watch for overcorrection. Once students learn that say needs to, some add to after tell, and do the same with explain. Round three of the game is built to catch this. Say each wrong sentence once at most, then give the rule.

Suggested procedure

1. Before (2 min). Ask one student to whisper a sentence to a partner. Ask the partner to tell the class what was said. Write the report on the board.
2. Watch (3 min). Play the video once. Students repeat aloud when Cody says "Say them with me": He told me. He said to me.
3. Game (3 min). Play the game again. Both sentences are shown and said. Pause at each thinking beat ("Have a think...") and ask the class to vote. After round three, ask: does explain work like say or like tell?
4. After (4 min). Go back to the report on the board. Students correct it and say what comes after tell and after say.

Materials & prerequisites

• The video, a screen and sound for the whole class.
• The example sentences are at about A2 level.

Assessment & extensions

In pairs, one student whispers a statement. The partner reports it twice, with tell and with say. The class checks which sentence took a person directly and which needed to.