told

told — verb

1. the form of the verb 'tell' used to show that the action of giving information,

1.動詞及物 / 不及物A1
釋義

the form of the verb 'tell' used to show that the action of giving information, instructions, or a story happened in the past.

例句

João told the taxi driver to wait while he ran inside the house.

told + person + to-infinitive (instruction)

Noor told me that the library would close early on Friday.

told + person + that-clause (information)

同義詞
  • said

    more general; 'said' can report any utterance, while 'told' implies a listener is receiving the information

  • informed

    more formal and more specific; 'informed' suggests factual or official communication

  • notified

    formal; used for official announcements or alerts, not casual conversation

反義詞

文法句型

told + person + (that)-clause

told + person + to-infinitive

told + person + about + noun phrase

be + told + (that)-clause (passive)

用法筆記

Told is the only past-tense form of 'tell' — it is used for all persons (I told, you told, she told, we told, they told). Do not add -ed: 'telled' is not a word. In informal spoken English, 'I told you so' is a common fixed expression used when something the speaker predicted has come true.

常見錯誤

❌I telled him the answer yesterday.
✅I told him the answer yesterday.
💡The verb 'tell' is irregular; its past form is 'told', not 'telled'.
❌She has tell me before.
✅She has told me before.
💡After 'has/have/had', use the past participle 'told', not the base form 'tell'.