The workshops of the Boutique Lingua language school will help you learn expressions useful for resolving disagreements and expressing disagreement. In the first workshop, you will learn the difference between the verbs tell and say, as well as mean and think, and in the second, you will review the verb tenses we use to describe the situation that led to the disagreement. Let’s get started!
Clearing up misunderstandings 1
When resolving disagreements in English, it is important to know the difference between the verbs to tell and to say, as these are the verbs we most often use in this context. The verb to say is more frequently used to convey the words someone has spoken, while the verb to tell is used to convey content. 'I am thinking about moving,' she said, but She told me she wanted to move to London. Additionally, the verb to tell is often used with two objects: She told me (1st object) she wanted to move to London (2nd object), while say is most often used with the phrase with to: She said to me, “I want to move to London.”
In resolving disagreements, it is also important to know the difference between the verbs mean and think. The verb to think means to believe or to think (I don’t think we have met), while the verb to mean means to signify or to think, but in the context of clarifying something we said or wrote (What do you mean by that?). Thus, while resolving a disagreement, we can say I don’t think I understand what you mean, or, I don’t understand what you want to say, What do you mean when you say… or What I mean is… to clarify what we said.
