I may not be the best person to explain the difference, but I'll
try. The difference is subtle.
In "When I say to you" -- the word "to" indicates that "I" am
communicating with "you" particularly.
In using "When I'm saying you", there's no indication that anyone in
particular is being addressed. For example, "Believe me when I'm saying
nice things" -- I could simply be trying to emphasize that when I say
nice things, I mean it -- and I could be saying nice things to anyone,
and mean it just as much.
On the other hand, if I were to say, "Believe me when I say to you that
you're beautiful" ... the difference is that I'm trying to emphasize a
personal connection with you ... the person I'm actually speaking to.
I should point out that, in conversational English, you'd almost never
hear it spoken that way by a native speaker. Most often, people would
say, "Believe me when I *tell* you" rather than "Believe me when I *say
to* you", which I can only imagine being used in song lyrics or poetry
for the purpose of phrasing and meter.
I hope that helps somewhat, and hasn't caused you even more confusion.
Best,
Walt
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On 11/3/2010 12:39 AM, Boris Liberman wrote:
Hi!
Each time I listen to "Russians" by Sting (lyrics here, e.g.:
http://www.lyricattack.com/s/stinglyrics/russianslyrics.html), what is
the difference between
"I'm saying you" smth and
"I say to you" like Sting sings?
Thanks in advance.
Boris
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