Phrasal Verb Fun

talk someone round
Talk someone round has a completely different meaning from
talk around
something. When you want to persuade somebody, usually it is better to
be indirect. Perhaps you feel you have to talk around the subject first until
your friend
comes round to
your way of thinking. Congratulations! You
have talked him round. He now agrees with you.
Separable two-word verb
Be careful.
tell
(tell, told, told. Like
sell
, sold, sold.)
Tell has at least three common meanings;

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(1) It means 'say' in the sense of 'relate'.
We say something (to somebody), but we tell somebody something.
Mary says it is her birthday tomorrow.
Mary tells us it is her birthday tomorrow.
(These sentences mean exactly the same.)
With few exceptions tell, in this sense, must be followed by a person, and
then the content.
The exceptions are -
tell stories
tell lies
tell the truth
which, if you think about it, are all very similar.
(2) When you tell somebody to do something, you are giving them an
order, a command.
My boss told me to work harder.
(Notice how similar this is to 'My boss told me, "Work harder".')
(3) Tell the difference to mean 'to distinguish'.
Bill and Ben are identical. Even people who know them can't tell the
difference.
tell off
We often use
off
to mean being away from the target, or the intention, or
what is right. When you tell somebody off, you are telling them what they
are doing that is not right. In other words, you are expressing displeasure
in their actions.
Teachers, parents, wives and husbands have been known to do this.
Separable two-word verb
. Careful