# לומר vs. לספר vs. להגיד vs. למסור



## sawyeric1

All of these verbs are used for "to tell". When should each of them be used for it? 

Thanks


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## slus

All of these verbs are used for "to tell" in different contexts, and in some contexts they are interchangeable.

למסור is more old fashioned. My grandmother used to say למסור. It basically means "to deliver [a message]"
Nowadays it is used mainly in formal conversations,
אני מבקשת למסור למנהלת שלך שיש בעיה עם המוצר
מסרתי לה את המסר

להגיד is the simplest and most common word meaning "to tell":
אני רוצה להגיד לכם שאתם נפלאים
תגיד לי מה אפשר לעשות

לספר is more in the context of telling a story or a news item:
אבא, יש לי משהו לספר לך
ספרי לי סיפור

לומר is like להגיד, but more poetic:
יש דברים שרציתי לומר
תאמרי לי מה את רוצה


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## amikama

slus said:


> לומר is like להגיד, but more poetic:


Not always. In the past and present להגיד is dated, more poetic than לומר:
הגיד, מגיד - dated, poetic
אמר, אומר - modern, used almost exclusively 

In the future it's the way around:
יגיד - used more in informal Hebrew
יאמר - formal, poetic (but not dated as in the past/present)

In the imperative... Who uses the imperative nowadays? 
But when the imperative is used, then הגד is usually more formal/poetic than אמור.


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## Drink

Another point is that in informal contexts today להגיד and לומר have fused into one suppletive verb, with להגיד used for the infinitive and future (and imperative), and לומר used for the past and present.

So you have:
past: אני אמרתי
present: אני אומר
future: אני אגיד
infinitive: אני רוצה להגיד


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## sawyeric1

Could למסור be translated as "to let someone know", since it's a more formal version of "to tell" in English?


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## Drink

sawyeric1 said:


> Could למסור be translated as "to let someone know", since it's a more formal version of "to tell" in English?



I would say it's more like "pass on" or "pass down".


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## sawyeric1

Sentences from native speakers:

אתה יכול להגיד את זה שוב
Can you say that again?

?אז למה לא אמרת את זה קודם
So why didn’t you say that earlier?

So how do I know when to use which verb for "say", or are they interchangeable?

Thanks


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## bazq

Generally both verbs are indeed interchangeable. One thing to remember though is that the inflection paradigm of להגיד undergoes suppletion. You can use the infinitive form להגיד, and the imperfect form יגיד, but the present/participle form מגיד* and the perfect form הגיד* are not used (in spoken Modern Hebrew) - the root אמר is used instead.

Infinitive: להגיד
imperfect: יגיד
perfect: אמר
present: אומר

אני צריך *להגיד/לומר* לך משהו
אין לי זמן, מחר *אגיד/אומר* לך
But only:
תזכור ש*אמרתי* לך
תקשיב למה שאני *אומר* לך


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## rushalaim

Pentateuch's ל*א*מר _"to say"_ smth. to somebody.
Pentateuch's להגיד _"to narrate"_ to somebody about smth.


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## sawyeric1

How do you know when לומר means say instead of tell?


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## sawyeric1

Also, is there a Hebrew phrase that corresponds to "I'll let him know"?


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## Ali Smith

*<< NEW QUESTION - threads merged by moderator >>*​
שלום!

Is there a difference between ספר לי and אמור לי? I always thought the latter was the normal way to say "Tell me!", but today I came across the following:

ספר לי, היכן ראית את חנה?
ראיתי אותה ברחוב אלנבי.
מה היא עושה בתל אביב?


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## Drink

לספר means to tell a story. So ספר לי would be used when you expect to hear a story. You're telling someone to tell you a story. As in for example "tell me how you ended up in this situation", there you expect to hear a story and so would say ספר לי.

Just a reminder that in colloquial Hebrew, the imperative of אמור is not used, but rather you would say תגיד לי.


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