219. ¿Se puede decir, indistintamente, I said him to help me / I told him to help me / I asked him to help me?

Las respuestas correctas son:

I told him to help me (si le ordenaste que lo hiciese).

I asked him to help me (si le pediste que lo hiciese).

Los verbos say, tell y ask a menudo se usan de manera errónea, por lo que es importante estudiarlos detenidamente.

La forma verbal say significa ‘pronunciar palabras’ y puede referirse a cualquier tipo de discurso: informar, exponer, dar instrucciones, etc. El complemento directo nunca aparece inmediatamente a continuación de este verbo. Se debe utilizar «to + complemento» o «(that) + oración»:

Colin said Morag (that) he was going sailing.

Colin said to Morag (that) he was going sailing.

Sandra said (that) she wanted to go out later.

El verbo tell significa ‘informar’ o ‘mandar’ y va seguido de un complemento de persona, nunca por «to + complemento»:

Tell to them to make some tea now.

Tell them to make some tea now.

Hannah told to Ross (that) she was going to the beach.

Hannah told Ross (that) she was going to the beach.

Debe tenerse en cuenta que cuando say y tell se utilizan con el sentido de ‘informar’ solo se diferencian en la estructura gramatical, no en el significado:

Bill said to Marie (that) he was planning to go fishing that day.

Bill told Marie (that) he was planning to go fishing that day.

El estilo directo se introduce utilizando say para afirmaciones y ask para preguntas:

Angus told, ‘It’s going to snow later.’

Angus said, ‘It’s going to snow later.’

‘Is it going to snow later?’ asked Angus.

Tras una pregunta indirecta, ask es el único verbo que puede emplearse:

‘Do you want to go out?’ Patricia asked me.

Patricia said whether I wanted to go out.

Patricia told whether I wanted to go out.

Patricia asked whether I wanted to go out.

Sin embargo, say, tell y ask pueden usarse en el estilo indirecto, según el caso:

Please sit down. – They asked us to sit down. / They told us to sit down.

I’m sorry. – She said (that) she was sorry.

Se usa tell en las siguientes expresiones:

Tell a story / Tell the truth / Tell a lie / Tell a joke / Tell the difference / Tell the time.

Se emplea say en las siguientes expresiones:

Say a prayer / a Hail Mary / Mass, etc. Say a bad word / a swearword.