How to use tell in a sentence
40 example sentences · verb, noun
Tell means to determine the number, amount, or value of [something]. Example: “All told, there were over a dozen. Can you tell time on a clock? He had untold wealth.”
Examples of tell by meaning
verbTo determine the number, amount, or value of [something].
- All told, there were over a dozen. Can you tell time on a clock? He had untold wealth.
verbTo notice, discern. (Roughly, "can tell" means "know" but with a sense of direct perception.).
- I can tell that you're thrilled.
- You can tell you've struck a nerve when even the crowd stops laughing.
- She couldn't tell the words on the chalkboard without her glasses.
verbTo pick up on a difference. (See tell apart for more.).
- An expert can tell an original from a forgery.
- Can you tell whether those flowers are real or silk, from this distance? No, there's no way to tell.
verbTo narrate, to recount.
- I want to tell a story; I want to tell you a story.
- 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
verbTo convey by speech; to say.
- Finally, someone told him the truth. He seems to like to tell lies.
- I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
- Tell her you’re here.2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
verbTo instruct or inform.
- Please tell me how to do it.
verbTo order; to direct, to say to someone.
- Tell him to go away.
- She said she hoped she had not distressed him by the course she had felt obliged to take, and he told her not to be a fool.1909, H. G. Wells, Ann Veronica
- Stability was restored, but once the re-entry propulsion was activated, the crew was told to prepare to come home before the end of their only day in orbit.2012 October 25, John Noble Wilford, “Neil Armstrong, First Man on the Moon, Dies at 82”, in New York Times
verbTo inform someone in authority about a wrongdoing.
- I saw you steal those sweets! I'm telling!
More sentences with tell
- Nobody told me to do it. I did it of my own accord.From the entry accord
- Most websites contain metadata to tell the computer how to lay out the content on the screen.From the entry metadata
- You told me I could do that, but she said that I could not.From the entry but
- His rage only increased when I told him of the lost money.From the entry increase
- Ask him that he tell her —No need to, she'll already know by know.From the entry ask
- They daredn't tell me the truth, even though I dared (to) acknowledge my mistake to them.From the entry dare
- I daren't tell him I've had an affair with another man.From the entry dare
- Time to tell all the ballots cast by voters in the box.From the entry cast
- The doctor told us of an interesting case he had treated that morning.From the entry case
- The Spanish teacher told the student to use the imperfect tense instead of the preterite tense.From the entry tense
- All of her children are terribly bold and never do as they are told.From the entry bold
- The farmer offered me some fresh eggs, but I told him I was allergic to egg.From the entry egg
- Give the motor a listen and tell me if it sounds off.From the entry listen
- Draw near to the fire and I will tell you a tale.From the entry draw
- Could you tell me how the document came to be discovered?From the entry come
- I’ve had three people today tell me my hair looks nice.From the entry have
- I’ll tell you what happened, but first let me set the scene.From the entry set
- He doesn't just tell you how to do it, he shows you.From the entry show
- Tell Johnson he needs to be on a string with the ball.From the entry string
- A tale is but half told, if only one person tells it.From the entry told
- My daughter told me about all the different animals she saw at the zoo.From the entry different
- At the reception, Uncle Nick got drunk and told dirty jokes to the bridesmaids.From the entry dirty
- He plucked up the courage to tell her how he felt.From the entry courage
- Dad went into orbit when I told him that I'd crashed the car.From the entry orbit
Meaning of tell
- verb To determine the number, amount, or value of [something].
- verb To notice, discern. (Roughly, "can tell" means "know" but with a sense of direct perception.).
- verb To pick up on a difference. (See tell apart for more.).
Questions about tell in a sentence
- How do you use tell in a sentence?
- Tell is used as a verb and noun. For example: “All told, there were over a dozen. Can you tell time on a clock? He had untold wealth.”
- What is a short sentence with tell?
- “Tell her you’re here.”
- What does tell mean?
- Tell means to determine the number, amount, or value of [something].
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tell (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use tell in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/tell. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.