NDA (I) 2017 GAT Q5: You have never ________ me about your experiences in

Q: What is the answer to NDA (I) 2017 GAT Q5?

B. Correct — B, 'told'. 'Tell' takes the listener as its direct object with no preposition — you tell somebody something, or tell somebody about something. Since the blank is followed at once by the bare pronoun 'me', only 'told' can stand there.

NDA (I) 2017 General Ability Test · Question 5 of 149

Question text verified against the official NDA question paper.

You have never ________ me about your experiences in America.

(a)said
(b)told
(c)explained
(d)spoken

Answer

Why

Correct — B, 'told'. 'Tell' takes the listener as its direct object with no preposition — you tell somebody something, or tell somebody about something. Since the blank is followed at once by the bare pronoun 'me', only 'told' can stand there.

Why the others are wrong

(a)said — 'Say' does not take a personal object directly; the sentence would have to read 'said to me about your experiences'.
(c)explained — 'Explain' also needs 'to' before the listener, so 'explained to me' is the only correct shape.
(d)spoken — 'Speak' works with 'to' as well — 'spoken to me about your experiences' — and cannot be followed straight by 'me'.

Concept

Reporting verbs differ in whether the listener follows directly or has to be introduced by 'to', and 'tell' is the one that takes the listener immediately.

All four verbs report speech, so meaning cannot decide the item. The single word after the blank is the bare pronoun 'me', and that alone selects the verb able to take an indirect object without a preposition.

Key facts

The 'tell' pattern is tell somebody something, or tell somebody about something.
The 'say' pattern is say something to somebody.
'Explain' and 'describe' behave like 'say' and need 'to' before the listener.

Study next

Say and tell in reported speechVerbs that require 'to' before the listenerDitransitive verbs and indirect objectsError-spotting traps built on the intruding 'to'

Common traps

Slipping an unwanted 'to' in after 'tell'.
Assuming that any verb of speaking can be followed straight by a person.

Asked as a selecting-words item — pick the verb that fits the blank.

Related PYQs

NDA_GAT_2022_II_Q352022Open & attempt →

Amit told to Divya (a) / that he would come (b) / with a reward for her. (c)

(a) (a)
(b) (b)
(c) (c)
(d) No error

Answer(a) (a)

Same rule — 'tell' takes its listener directly. That NDA error-spotting item marks 'Amit told to Divya' as the faulty segment because of the intruding 'to'; this item rewards the same knowledge by making 'told me' the only fit.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
She ________ us a long story about her travels.
- (a)said
- (b)spoke
- (c)told
- (d)explained
Answer(c) told — 'tell' takes both a listener and a thing told, with no preposition between them.
practice — not a real PYQ
He ________ to the class about his research.
- (a)told
- (b)said
- (c)spoke
- (d)informed
Answer(c) spoke — 'speak' needs 'to' before the listener.