told

Told is the simple past tense and past participle of the English verb tell. It denotes the act of communicating information, recounting a story or fact, or giving instructions or warnings.

As an irregular verb, tell has the past tense and past participle form told. It commonly takes a direct object (the person or thing being informed) and the content of the communication, as in "She told me a secret" or "He told the truth." The past participle is used with auxiliary verbs to form perfect tenses (has told, had told) and the passive voice ("The story was told by the author"). The imperative form is "Tell me," and the infinitive form "to tell" appears in phrases like "to tell someone to..." The construction "told to" expresses a commanded action: "They were told to wait."

Use with reported speech is common: English often uses "told" to introduce a statement, as in "She told him that she would come." The verb requires a listener or recipient and typically introduces what was communicated, unlike "say," which can be used without a direct object. In questions, the auxiliary is placed before the subject: "Did you tell him?"

Etymology: The word comes from Old English tellan/tellan, related to Dutch vertellen and German erzählen; cognates appear in several Germanic languages. Over time, its senses broadened from counting or recounting to include conveying information and narratives. See also related forms such as telling, tale, and storyteller.