Let vs Tell - What's the difference?
let | tell |
(label) To allow to, not to prevent (+ infinitive, but usually without (to)).
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*(Bible), (w) viii. 28
*:Pharaoh said, I will let you go.
*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
*:If your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is
*1971 , , (The Tombs of Atuan)
*:He could not be let die of thirst there alone in the dark.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
, volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To leave.
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*(Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
*:Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets, / But to her mother Nature all her care she lets .
(label) To allow the release of (a fluid).
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(label) To allow possession of (a property etc.) in exchange for rent.
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(label) To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; often with out .
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(label)
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To cause (+ bare infinitive).
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*:
*1818 , (John Keats), "To—":
*:Time's sea hath been five years at its slow ebb, / Long hours have to and fro let creep the sand.
(archaic) To hinder, prevent; to obstruct (someone or something).
* Bible, 2. Thessalonians ii. 7
* Tennyson
(obsolete) To prevent or obstruct (to) do something, or (that) something happen.
* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Acts VIII:
An obstacle or hindrance.
*, II.16:
*:Paulus Emilius'' going to the glorious expedition of ''Macedon'', advertised the people of ''Rome'' during his absence not to speake of his actions: ''For the licence of judgements is an especiall let in great affaires.
*Latimer
*:Consider whether your doings be to the let of your salvation or not.
(tennis) The hindrance caused by the net during serve, only if the ball falls legally.
(lb) To count, reckon, or enumerate.
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*1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.vii:
*:And in his lap a masse of coyne he told , / And turned vpsidowne, to feede his eye / A couetous desire with his huge threasury.
*1875 , Hugh MacMillan, The Sunday Magazine :
*:Only He who made them can tell the number of the stars, and mark the place of each in the order of the one great dominant spiral.
(lb) To narrate.
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*, chapter=7
, title= (lb) To convey by speech; to say.
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*, chapter=4
, title= (lb) To instruct or inform.
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*Bible, (w) xii. 18
*:Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,
(lb) To order; to direct, to say to someone.
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*(Charles Dickens) (1812-1870)
*:He told her not to be frightened.
*'>citation
*: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.
(lb) To discern, notice, identify or distinguish.
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*:Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.
(lb) To reveal.
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(lb) To be revealed.
*1990 , (Stephen Coonts), Under Siege, 1991 (Pocket Books) edition, ISBN 0671742949, p.409:
*:Cherry looks old, Mergenthaler told himself. His age is telling . Querulous — that's the word. He's become a whining, querulous old man absorbed with trivialities.
(lb) To have an effect, especially a noticeable one; to be apparent, to be demonstrated.
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*1859 (John Stuart Mill), (On Liberty)
*:Opinion ought [… to give] merited honour to every one, whatever opinion he may holdkeeping nothing back which tells', or can be supposed to ' tell , in their favour.
*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 18, author=Ben Dirs, work=BBC Sport
, title= A reflexive, often habitual behavior, (especially) one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold.
That which is told; tale; account.
* Walpole
(internet) A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper.
(archaeology) A mound, originally in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.
As nouns the difference between let and tell
is that let is milk or let can be letter while tell is a reflexive, often habitual behavior, (especially) one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold or tell can be (archaeology) a mound, originally in the middle east, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.As a verb tell is
(lb) to count, reckon, or enumerate.let
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) leten, .Verb
The tao of tech, passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",
- Soo within a whyle kynge Pellinore cam with a grete hoost / and salewed the peple and the kyng / and ther was grete ioye made on euery syde / Thenne the kyng lete serche how moche people of his party ther was slayne / And ther were founde but lytel past two honderd men slayne and viij kny?tes of the table round in their pauelions
Synonyms
* (to allow) allow, permitUsage notes
The use of "let" to introduce an imperative may sometimes be confused with its use, as its own imperative , in the sense of "to allow". For example, the sentence "Let me go to the store." could either be a second-person imperative of "let" (addressing someone who might prevent the speaker from going to the store) or a first-person singular imperative of "go" (not implying any such preventer).Etymology 2
(etyl) . More at late, delay.Verb
- He who now letteth' will ' let , until he be taken out of the way.
- Mine ancient wound is hardly whole, / And lets me from the saddle.
- And as they went on their waye, they cam unto a certayne water, and the gelded man sayde: Se here is water, what shall lett me to be baptised?
Noun
(en noun)Statistics
*tell
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) ((etyl) telja). More at tale.Verb
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=“
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.}}
Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia, passage=But England's superior fitness told in the second half, with Delon Armitage, Manu Tuilagi and Chris Ashton (two) going over for tries to secure a bonus-point win.}}
Synonyms
* (enumerate) count * (narrate) narrate, recount, relateAntonyms
* (to instruct or inform) askDerived terms
* all told * tell against * tell all * tell-all * tell off * tell on * tell-tale / telltale * tell tales * tell tales out of school * tellerNoun
(en noun)- I am at the end of my tell .