v.告诉；吩咐；讲述；表达；辨别；判断；泄露；告发；产生效果

It's very kind of you to tell me the truth. 你真好,告诉我这真相。

Let me tell you some details about clearance. 让我告诉你一些通关的细节。

He always does what his superiors tell him. 他惟上级之命是从。

He wanted to tell the news to the world. 他要把这件事告诉每一个人。

I always tell my daughter a story before she goes to sleep. 女儿睡觉之前，我总讲故事给她听。

I can't tell you how happy I am. 我无法向你表达我多么高兴。

Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddnest thought. 我们最甜蜜的歌就是表达最苦恼思想的歌。

It is hard to tell who is who in the parade. 在游行队伍中很难分清谁是谁。

I can never tell natural silk from artificial. 我不能分辨真丝和人造丝。

It's impossible to tell who will win the next election. 下届选举谁能获胜无法预知。

I can tell from the way you speak that you are from Australia. 根据你说话的方式,我能判断你是澳大利亚人。

You promised not to tell but you have done so . 你曾保证过不泄露机密，可是你却把它泄露了出去。

They pledged themselves never to tell the secret . 他们保证绝不泄露秘密。

You're saying you gonna tell on me? 你是说你想要告发我?

If someone tried to blackmail me I would tell the police. 如果有人企图敲诈我，我就向警察告发。

Your efforts are beginning to tell. 你的努力正在开始产生效果。

His unselfish work is beginning to tell. 他无私的工作开始产生效果。

tell的基本意思是用语言或文字“告知”“告诉”“讲述”某事,强调思想的表达,而不强调表达的方式。引申可表示“吩咐”“嘱托”“命令”“确定”“区分,辨别”“泄露秘密”“猜测”“产生效果”等。

tell可用作不及物动词,也可用作及物动词。用作及物动词时,接名词、代词、带疑问词的动词不定式或wh-从句作宾语。也可接双宾语,其直接宾语可以是名词或代词,也可以是带疑问词的动词不定式或that/wh-从句,其间接宾语可以转化为介词to的宾语。

tell作“吩咐”解时,还可接以动词不定式充当补足语的复合宾语。

tell可用于被动结构。

tell在非正式语体中可以引出直接引语。