Instruct and Tell

Instruct

Instruct verb - To give information to.
Usage example: instructed everyone in the use of the new telephone system

Tell is a synonym for instruct in order topic. In some cases you can use "Tell" instead a verb "Instruct", when it comes to topics like inform, over, educate. popular alternative

Nearby Words: instruction, instructor, instructive, instructing

Tell

Tell verb - To give information to.
Usage example: tell me, when did you begin playing the violin?

Instruct is a synonym for tell in communicate topic. You can use "Instruct" instead a verb "Tell", if it concerns topics such as over, inform, educate. popular alternative

Nearby Words: telling, teller

Common collocations

person instruct person tell person
girl instruct girl tell girl
man instruct man tell man
woman instruct woman tell woman
Other words: people, children, someone, parents, audience, characters, doctor, player, everyone, times, kids, players, guys.

Both words in one sentence

  • Parodied on Chuck, where Chuck tries to instruct Captain Awesome on the lie to tell to his wife about where he's been all night.
  • The scene also averts No Periods, Period by having Olga tell Anton that he's lucky this isn't happening a few weeks later, or she'd have to instruct him on the use of tampons.
  • Failed Attempt at Drama And then there's the series-spanning Running Gag wherein Lord Vetinari will instruct someone, "Look out the window and tell me what you see," only to have problems, such as someone who comically misses the point ("a dog watching a man take a leak in an alley"), or uncooperative weather ("Fog.")
Cite this Source
Tell and Instruct. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/instruct/tell
Instruct & Tell. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/instruct/tell>.
Tell or Instruct. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/instruct/tell.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "instruct" and "tell" have occurred on timeline