Verbo tell en inglés: conjugación completa
Diego De La Croix
Profesor bilingüe francés-español
El verbo inglés to tell significa «decir/contar» en español. Es un verbo irregular, lo que significa que sus formas de pasado simple y participio pasado no siguen la regla estándar de añadir -ed y deben memorizarse. A diferencia de say, requiere un objeto indirecto: Tell me the truth (no Say me). Se usa para órdenes: Tell him to come. Pasado y participio: told.
Conjugación de tell en indicativo
Present simple (presente simple)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | tell |
| you | tell |
| he/she/it | tells |
| we | tell |
| they | tell |
Present continuous (presente continuo)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | am telling |
| you | are telling |
| he/she/it | is telling |
| we | are telling |
| they | are telling |
Present perfect (pretérito perfecto)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | have told |
| you | have told |
| he/she/it | has told |
| we | have told |
| they | have told |
Past simple (pasado simple)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | told |
| you | told |
| he/she/it | told |
| we | told |
| they | told |
Past continuous (pasado continuo)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | was telling |
| you | were telling |
| he/she/it | was telling |
| we | were telling |
| they | were telling |
Past perfect (pluscuamperfecto)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | had told |
| you | had told |
| he/she/it | had told |
| we | had told |
| they | had told |
Future simple (futuro simple)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | will tell |
| you | will tell |
| he/she/it | will tell |
| we | will tell |
| they | will tell |
Future perfect (futuro perfecto)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | will have told |
| you | will have told |
| he/she/it | will have told |
| we | will have told |
| they | will have told |
Conjugación de tell en condicional
Present (presente)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | would tell |
| you | would tell |
| he/she/it | would tell |
| we | would tell |
| they | would tell |
Past (pasado)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | would have told |
| you | would have told |
| he/she/it | would have told |
| we | would have told |
| they | would have told |
Conjugación de tell en imperativo
Conjugación de tell en participio
Present (presente)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| - | telling |
Past (pasado)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| - | told |
Ejemplos
Tell me the truth.
Dime la verdad.
She told me a secret.
Ella me contó un secreto.
Can you tell the difference?
¿Puedes notar la diferencia?
I told you so!
¡Te lo dije!
He told her to wait.
Le dijo que esperara.
Don't tell anyone.
No se lo digas a nadie.
Time will tell.
El tiempo lo dirá.
I can't tell them apart.
No puedo distinguirlos.
She has told me everything.
Ella me lo ha contado todo.
To tell the truth...
A decir verdad...
Expresiones
tell apart
distinguir / diferenciar
tell it like it is
decir las cosas como son
time will tell
el tiempo lo dirá
Errores frecuentes
Olvidar la -s de la tercera persona: He tell en vez de He tells
Correcto: He/She/It tells
En el present simple, la tercera persona del singular (he/she/it) siempre añade -s o -es al verbo. Es el error más frecuente entre hispanohablantes.
Regularizar el pasado: telled en vez de told
Correcto: Past simple: told — Past participle: told
«tell» es irregular: sus formas de pasado no siguen la regla estándar de añadir -ed. Deben aprenderse de memoria.
Formar preguntas sin do/does: You tell? en vez de Do you tell?
Correcto: Do you tell? / Does he/she tell?
En español, la pregunta se forma con la entonación. En inglés, el present simple y past simple necesitan el auxiliar do/does/did para preguntas y negaciones.
Confundir present simple con present continuous: I tell vs I am telling
Correcto: Hábito/general → I tell | Ahora mismo → I am telling
El present simple se usa para hábitos y verdades generales, mientras que el present continuous se usa para acciones en progreso. En español a menudo se usa el mismo tiempo para ambos.
Sinónimos
Antónimos
Comparación inglés / español
| Aspecto | Inglés | Español |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | I tell | yo digo |
| Present simple (3rd person) | he/she tells | él/ella dice |
| Present continuous | I am telling | yo estoy diciendo |
| Past simple | I told | yo dije |
| Present perfect | I have told | yo he dicho |
| Future simple | I will tell | yo diré |
| Negative | I don't tell | yo no digo |
| Question | Do you tell? | ¿tú dices? |