Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - say

(says, saying, said) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. When you say something, you speak words. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said... She said they were very impressed... Forty-one people are said to have been seriously hurt... I packed and said goodbye to Charlie... I hope you didn’t say anything about Gretchen... Did he say where he was going?... It doesn’t sound exactly orthodox, if I may say so. VERB: V with quote, V that, be V-ed to-inf, V n to n, V n, V wh, V so 2. You use say in expressions such as I would just like to say to introduce what you are actually saying, or to indicate that you are expressing an opinion or admitting a fact. If you state that you can’t say something or you wouldn’t say something, you are indicating in a polite or indirect way that it is not the case. I would just like to say that this is the most hypocritical thing I have ever heard in my life... I must say that rather shocked me, too... Dead? Well, I can’t say I’m sorry. VERB: V that, V that, V that 3. You can mention the contents of a piece of writing by mentioning what it says or what someone says in it. The report says there is widespread and routine torture of political prisoners in the country... You can’t have one without the other, as the song says... ‘Highly inflammable,’ it says on the spare canister... Jung believed that God speaks to us in dreams. The Bible says so too. VERB: V that, V with quote, it V with quote, V so 4. If you say something to yourself, you think it. Perhaps I’m still dreaming, I said to myself... VERB: V to pron-refl with quote 5. If you have a say in something, you have the right to give your opinion and influence decisions relating to it. The students wanted more say in the government of the university. N-SING: usu a N, also more/some N 6. You indicate the information given by something such as a clock, dial, or map by mentioning what it says. The clock said four minutes past eleven... The map says there’s six of them. VERB: V n, V that 7. If something says something about a person, situation, or thing, it gives important information about them. I think that says a lot about how well Seles is playing... The appearance of the place and the building says something about the importance of the project. VERB: V amount about n, V pron about n 8. If something says a lot for a person or thing, it shows that this person or thing is very good or has a lot of good qualities. It says a lot for him that he has raised his game to the level required... It says much for Brookner’s skill that the book is sad, but never depressing. VERB: V amount for n, it V amount for n that 9. You use say in expressions such as I’ll say that for them and you can say this for them after or before you mention a good quality that someone has, usually when you think they do not have many good qualities. He’s usually smartly-dressed, I’ll say that for him... At the very least, he is devastatingly sure of himself, you can say that. VERB: V pron for n, V pron 10. You can use say when you want to discuss something that might possibly happen or be true. Say you could change anything about the world we live in, what would it be? = suppose VERB: only imper, V that 11. You can use say or let’s say when you mention something as an example. To see the problem here more clearly, let’s look at a different biological system, say, an acorn... 12. If you say that something says it all, you mean that it shows you very clearly the truth about a situation or someone’s feelings. This is my third visit in a week, which says it all. PHRASE: V inflects 13. You can use ‘You don’t say’ to express surprise at what someone has told you. People often use this expression to indicate that in fact they are not surprised. ‘I’m a writer.’—‘You don’t say. What kind of book are you writing?’ CONVENTION c darkgreen]feelings 14. If you say there is a lot to be said for something, you mean you think it has a lot of good qualities or aspects. There’s a lot to be said for being based in the country. PHRASE: amount PHR 15. If someone asks what you have to say for yourself, they are asking what excuse you have for what you have done. ‘Well,’ she said eventually, ‘what have you to say for yourself?’ PHRASE 16. If something goes without saying, it is obvious. It goes without saying that if someone has lung problems they should not smoke. PHRASE: oft it PHR that 17. When one of the people or groups involved in a discussion has their say, they give their opinion. The Football Association have had their say. PHRASE: V inflects 18. You use ‘I wouldn’t say no’ to indicate that you would like something, especially something that has just been offered to you. (INFORMAL) I wouldn’t say no to a drink. CONVENTION c darkgreen]formulae 19. You use to say nothing of when you mention an additional thing which gives even more strength to the point you are making. Unemployment leads to a sense of uselessness, to say nothing of financial problems. PHRASE: PHR n 20. You use that is to say or that’s to say to indicate that you are about to express the same idea more clearly or precisely. (FORMAL) ...territories that were occupied in 1967, that is to say, in the West Bank and Gaza. PHRASE: PHR with cl/group 21. You can use ‘You can say that again’ to express strong agreement with what someone has just said. (INFORMAL) ‘Must have been a fiddly job.’—‘You can say that again.’ CONVENTION c darkgreen]emphasis 22. to say the least: see least needless to say: see needless