- say
- verbADVERB▪ aloud, out loud▪ loudly▪ gently, quietly, softly▪ gruffly, huskily▪ at once▪ at last, at length, finally▪ simply▪
‘I am home,’ he said simply.
▪ hastily, hurriedly, quickly▪ slowly▪ abruptly, suddenly▪ briskly, curtly, shortly, tersely▪ angrily, bitterly, crossly (esp. BrE), fiercely, sharply▪‘I don't know,’ she said crossly.
▪ bluntly, flatly, matter-of-factly, plainly▪ firmly, weakly▪ harshly, sternly▪ kindly, sweetly▪ brightly, cheerfully, cheerily, happily▪ enthusiastically▪ with a grin, with a smile▪‘You'll see!’ Lianne said with a smile.
▪ with a smirk, with a wink▪ with a chuckle, with a laugh▪ with a frown, with a shrug, with a sigh▪‘Well, at least we tried!’ he said with a shrug.
▪ miserably, sadly▪ gravely, grimly, seriously, solemnly▪ airily, casually, lightly, nonchalantly, smoothly▪‘There's nothing wrong with him,’ she said airily.
▪ stiffly▪ proudly▪ smugly▪ thoughtfully▪ conversationally▪ calmly, evenly, mildly▪ impatiently, patiently▪ defensively, indignantly▪ politely▪ soothingly▪ apologetically, sheepishly▪ awkwardly, hesitantly, lamely, nervously▪ jokingly, teasingly▪ drily, mockingly, sarcastically▪ coldly, coolly, icily▪ breathlessly▪ absently▪ honestly, sincerely, truthfully▪Can you honestly say you're sorry?
VERB + SAY▪ be about to, be going to▪I've forgotten what I was going to say.
▪ hasten to▪ long to, want to▪I want to say how much we have all enjoyed this evening.
▪ hate to▪I hate to say it, but I think Stephen may be right.
▪ dare (to)▪I dared not say a word about it to anyone.
▪I dare say they she'll come to the wedding.
▪ suffice it to, suffice to▪Suffice it to say, I refused to get involved.
▪ be fair to▪It is fair to say a considerable amount of effort went into the project.
▪ have nothing to, have something to▪Be quiet, I have something to say.
▪ hear sb▪I heard him say they were leaving tomorrow.
PREPOSITION▪ about▪Do you have anything to say about this?
▪ to▪That's not what he said to me.
PHRASES▪ be quoted as saying sth▪A government spokesman was quoted as saying that they would take steps to restore order.
▪ a thing to say▪That was a very cruel thing to say.
▪ I have to say, I must say▪I have to say I didn't expect it to be so good.
▪ it has to be said▪She wasn't at her best, it has to be said.
▪ needless to say▪Needless to say, it all went smoothly in the end.
Say is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑act, ↑ad, ↑advert, ↑advertisement, ↑advocate, ↑article, ↑banner, ↑Bible, ↑clock, ↑computer, ↑constitution, ↑critic, ↑document, ↑email, ↑estimate, ↑expert, ↑forecast, ↑headline, ↑horoscope, ↑inscription, ↑institute, ↑judge, ↑legend, ↑letter, ↑magazine, ↑manifesto, ↑manual, ↑message, ↑notice, ↑observer, ↑paragraph, ↑poll, ↑poster, ↑report, ↑researcher, ↑resolution, ↑rule, ↑sceptic, ↑scientist, ↑sign, ↑slogan, ↑source, ↑study, ↑survey, ↑tradition, ↑watch, ↑writer
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
