100 Mistakes #6 - 'say' or 'tell'?

You gotta tell me you're coming back to me
You gotta tell me you're coming back to me
You gotta tell me you're coming back to me
You gotta tell me you're coming back to me

You gotta say me you´re coming back to me


When you want to show that speaker A is giving some information to listener B, we use 'tell'.
We don't quote directly with 'tell'.

[Speaker A] tells [listener B] [something]

Dorothy told me [something]
Dorothy told me that she was coming back to me.

Dorothy told me "I'm coming back to you!"  (direct quote - use ´say`)
Dorothy told that she was coming back to me. (add listener B or use ´say`)

When you think that the words are important, or that it´s obvious who the listener is, you need to use "say".

[Speaker A] says [something]

Dorothy said [something]
Dorothy said "I'm coming back to you!"
Dorothy said that she was coming back to me.

Dorothy said me "I'm coming back to you!" (remove listener B)
Dorothy said me that she was coming back to me.  (remove listener B or use ´tell`)

- - - - -

We also 'tell a story' and 'tell a lie', with or without mentioning listener B. In the same way that you 'sing a song' or 'make a promise', here we are not saying the actual words that they used, we`re just saying what they did.

He told me a story about his trip to Afghanistan.
He told a story about his trip to Afghanistan.
He said a story about his trip to Afghanistan.

He's been telling lies again.
He's been telling me lies again.
He's been saying lies again.