Incorrect:

Please sit the telephone on the table by the bed.

Correct:

Please set the telephone on the table by the bed.

Incorrect:

Won't you set down?.

Correct:

Won't you sit down?

Exercises:

Part A: Choose the correct answer.

When Jacqueline Kennedy was first lady, she collected many beautiful antiques and _____ them among the original pieces in the White House..

(A) sat  (B) set   (C) sit  (D) sits 

Part B: Choose the incorrect word or phrase and correct it.

Hyde Park, the family estate of Franklin D. Roosevelt,  sets  on top of a bluff overlooking  the Hudson River. 

Problem 25 Similar verbs - tell and say

To tell and to say have similar meanings, but tell is often used before complements, especially persons. To say is not used before complements that are persons. To say is usually followed by a clause introduces by that.

Verb word tell Past told Participle told

Verb word say Past said Participle said

tell say tell the truth tell a lie tell sb (about smth) the news (the time, what time it is, what it means, that …) tell sb to do smth say smth say nothing (important) say very little, say that …

S TELL C M The teacher tells us how to do it.

S SAY C M The teacher says that we were making progress.

Examples: