You can think of the English verb "to tell" as the French verb "raconter" as in "telling a story". Although you can use "raconter" and "dire" to give the same meaning of being told or have something said to somebody, in English you can only use "tell" i.e. to be told.

Oh thank you very much Yijia, that's nice from you ! It's very useful

Thank you for your help with my writing. Here's my return to your kindness. From Michael Swann, A Practical English Usage (highly recommended) Entry 572 1 meaning and use Both say and tell are used with direct and indirect speech. (Say is more common than tell with direct speech.) ‘Turn right,’ I said. (or ‘Turn right,’ I told him.) She said that it was my last chance. (or She told me that it was my last chance.) Tell is only used to mean ‘instruct’ or ‘inform’. So we do not use tell with greetings, exclamations or questions, for example. He said, ‘Good morning.’ (but not He told them, ‘Good morning.’) Emily said, ‘What a nice idea.’ (but not Emily told us, ‘What a nice idea.’) ‘What’s your problem?’ I said. (but not ‘What’s your problem?’ I told her.) 2 say: objects We say something (to somebody), not say somebody something. He said a few words to me in Arabic. (not He said me a few words in Arabic.) She said that she would be late. (not She said me that …) And I say to all the people of this great country … (not And I say all the people …) 3 tell: objects After tell, we usually say who is told. She told me that she would be late. (not She told that …) Tell is used without a personal object in a few expressions. Common examples: tell the truth, tell a lie, tell a story/joke. I don’t think she’s telling the truth. (not … saying the truth.) Note also the use of tell to mean ‘distinguish’, ‘understand’, as in tell the difference, tell the time. He’s seven years old and he still can’t tell the time. Tell is not used before objects like a word, a name, a sentence, a phrase. Alice said a naughty word this morning. (not Alice told …) We do not usually use it after tell to refer to a fact. ‘What time’s the meeting?’‘I’ll tell you tomorrow.’ (not I’ll tell you it tomorrow.) 4 infinitives Tell can be used before object + infinitive, in the sense of ‘order’ or ‘instruct’. Say cannot be used like this. I told the children to go away. (not I said the children to go away.)

Werley Santana : it seems you answered the question (I received a notification) but I am sorry I can't see your post :/

Thank you for your answer Bethany !