Hey there! This is TOP episode 344. TELL OFF & TELL ON: Two Phrasal Verbs You Need in Everyday English
**You read English. You understand English. You’ve been learning for years, but when it’s time to speak your mind just freezes, and the words don’t come out. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. My name’s Ola, and this is Teacher Ola Podcast. I’m here to help you finally speak out loud. This isn’t about perfect grammar or fancy vocabulary. This is about your voice. Your words. Your real English.
A new free English class is coming, and I’d love you to join me.
It’s called Chill Out, and during this webinar we’re going to learn nine useful phrasal verbs that everyone needs in the summer.
These are not random textbook phrases — these are expressions you can actually use when you’re talking about holidays, relaxing, travelling, making plans, and enjoying your summer.
The webinar is happening on 12th July 2026 at 8:30 p.m.
So if you want to learn some practical English, improve your speaking, and add more natural phrases to your vocabulary, join me for Chill Out.
I can’t wait to see you there!
**Today we’re going to look at two very useful phrasal verbs with tell. You already know that tell means giving information to someone, but when we add a small word after it, like off or on, the meaning changes completely.
**Let’s start with tell off.
When you tell someone off, you speak angrily to them because they have done something wrong. You criticise them, you show that you’re unhappy with their behaviour, and you usually want them to change something.
Imagine a teenager coming home two hours late without calling their parents. The next day, they might tell their friend:
“My parents told me off yesterday. They were really angry because I didn’t let them know where I was.”
Or imagine someone making the same mistake at work several times. They might say to a colleague:
“My boss told me off this morning. I forgot to send an important email again.”
In everyday conversations, we very often use tell off when we talk about receiving criticism or being in trouble.
Coming back to that employee making the same mistake again and again. Their manager might say:
“I had to tell him off because he ignored the instructions.”
So tell off is stronger than simply saying “tell someone something”. It has this idea of anger, disappointment, or criticism.
The structure is:
tell somebody off
The person comes in the middle:
My boss told me off.
My mum told me off.
The teacher told the students off.
You can also use the passive:
I got told off.
She was told off by her manager.
Now let’s look at some everyday examples.
Your child leaves their room completely messy. You might complain like this:
“My son left his room like a disaster area, so I told him off yesterday.”
Or about a teacher:
“The teacher told the class off because they were making too much noise.”
A manager speaking to an employee:
“The big boss told me off for missing an important deadline.”
A doctor or a nurse might also tell someone off if they are worried about their behaviour:
“The nurse told me off for not taking my medicine.”
A friend might say something when they think you are making a bad decision:
“My friend told me off for staying at work until midnight every day.”
Now let’s look at different examples and different situations.
My parents told me off when I came home late without calling.
The doctor told him off because he wasn’t looking after his health.
Did your boss tell you off for being late?
Who told you off?
Have you ever been told off by a teacher?
My manager didn’t tell me off. She just explained what I should do differently.
He hasn’t told me off yet, but I think he’s disappointed.
If I make the same mistake again, my boss will tell me off.
You’d better be careful, or your parents will tell you off.
I got told off by a police officer for parking in the wrong place.
She was told off by her manager for speaking rudely to a customer.
Don’t tell me off! I’m trying to help.
I know I was wrong. You don’t have to tell me off.
**Now let’s move to another very interesting expression: tell on someone.
When you tell on someone, you give information about someone’s bad behaviour, usually to a person in authority.
The classic situation is a child going to their parent or teacher and saying:
“Mum, Tom broke the vase!”
The child is telling on Tom.
Sometimes it is simply reporting something important. Sometimes it sounds childish, like someone is trying to get another person into trouble.
The structure is:
tell on somebody
She told on her brother.
He told on me.
Don’t tell on us!
This expression is especially common when talking about children.
For example:
My little sister always told on me when I did something wrong.
But adults can use it too.
Imagine someone at work breaks a rule and a colleague reports them to the manager.
He told on his colleague because he was using company money for personal things.
Or:
I’m not going to tell on you, but you need to fix this problem.
**Now let’s look at more examples.
The child told on his brother because he ate all the chocolate.
My colleague told on me when I made a mistake in the report.
Did you tell on me?
I never told on my friends when we were kids.
She didn’t tell on him because she didn’t want him to get into trouble.
My son has promised he won’t tell on his sister.
If you tell on me, I’ll never trust you again.
You shouldn’t tell on people just because you don’t like them.
I would never tell on a friend unless someone was in danger.
**One important thing: tell on is much more common in situations involving children or rules. In serious adult situations, people often use other verbs, for example:
report someone
report a problem
So if an employee reports illegal behaviour at work, we usually don’t say:
“I told on my colleague.”
That sounds a little childish.
We would say:
“I reported my colleague’s behaviour.”
or:
“I reported the problem to my manager.”
“I reported this to the police.”
**So remember:
tell off means criticise someone because they did something wrong
“My boss told me off.”
tell on means to report someone’s bad behaviour to someone else
“My little brother told on me.”
So that’s it for today’s episode. We looked at two very useful phrasal verbs with tell: tell off, when someone criticises you because you’ve done something wrong, and tell on, when someone reports another person’s bad behaviour.
Now I want you to do something really important. Don’t just recognise these phrases when you hear them — make them part of your own English.
Listen and repeat out loud.
I know repeating sentences can feel a little unusual, especially if you’re used to studying English quietly, reading rules, or doing exercises in your head. But speaking is not only about knowing the right words. It’s about training yourself to react quickly and naturally.
When you repeat complete sentences, you’re practising the whole thing together: the grammar, the word order, the pronunciation, and the rhythm of real English. This is one of the first steps towards speaking more automatically, because your brain starts to build ready-made patterns that you can use later in real conversations.
So don’t just listen. Open your mouth and speak.
Ready? Let’s go.
“My parents told me off because I came home late.”
“My boss told me off for making the same mistake again.”
“Have you ever been told off by a teacher?”
“I know I was wrong, but you don’t have to tell me off.”
“I got told off by a nurse for not taking my medicine.”
“My little brother told on me when I broke the vase.”
“Don’t tell on me! I promise I won’t do it again.”
“Did you tell on your sister when you were younger?”
“She didn’t tell on him because she didn’t want him to get into trouble.”
“I would never tell on a friend unless someone was in danger.”
**Well done!
And before you go, don’t forget to visit teacherola.com/344 and download the free worksheet that goes with this episode. It will help you practise today’s expressions and make them easier to remember.
And if you enjoyed learning phrasal verbs this way, I’d love to invite you to my free live class Chill Out.
On 12th July 2026 at 8:30 p.m., we’re going to spend over an hour learning nine useful phrasal verbs that you really need during the summer.
We’ll look at expressions you can actually use when you’re talking about holidays, relaxing, travelling, making plans, and everyday conversations. Not just meanings from a list, but real phrases that people use naturally.
You can sign up now at teacherola.com/chill.
And if you want to take your speaking even further, you can also try my voice message method for free at teacherola.com/test.
You send me your voice messages, I listen to your English, and I give you detailed feedback so you know what to improve and how to sound more natural. It’s a simple but powerful way to practise speaking regularly and finally turn your knowledge into real communication.
Thank you so much for listening. Stay fearless, take care, and say it out loud.
I love you, I believe in you, and I know you are ready to speak English.
I’m your teacher, Teacher Ola, and you’ve been listening to Teacher Ola Podcast.
Bye for now.