常見變體：tell A and B apart；tell the difference between A and B
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適用範圍：人、顏色、真假、好壞、對錯等各種對比
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易犯錯：把 from 誤用成 between，或省略 apart/from 導致語意錯誤
形式與用法
tell ... from ...
結構為 tell A from B，表示「分辨A與B」。常見於 can/can’t/疑問句。A、B可為人、事物、概念（如 right/wrong）。若主語是複數相似的人/物，也常見加 each other（如 tell the twins from each other）。此處 tell 意為「分辨」，不是「告訴」。
範例：
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I can't tell the twins from each other.
我分不出這對雙胞胎。
其他形式：
tell A and B apart
與 tell A from B 意義相同，但語感上更強調把「很像的兩者」分開來看；代名詞時用法為 tell them apart（apart 置於代名詞之後）。較不常用於抽象對比如 right/wrong。
範例：
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I can't tell the twins apart.
我分不出這對雙胞胎。
tell the difference between A and B
強調「看出差異」；結構必須用 between A and B，不可與 tell A from B 混用。語氣偏中性到略正式。
範例：
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Can you tell the difference between butter and margarine?
你能分辨奶油和人造奶油嗎？
常見錯誤
✗
I can't tell the twins.
✓
I can't tell the twins from each other. / I can't tell the twins apart.
少了 from 或 apart，句子會變成「我無法告訴這對雙胞胎」，語意錯誤。表示「分辨」時需用 tell A from B 或 tell A and B apart。
✗
Can you tell A between B?
✓
Can you tell A from B? / Can you tell the difference between A and B?
tell A from B 與 tell the difference between A and B 是兩種不同結構，不能把 from 與 between 互換。
✗
I can't tell apart them.
✓
I can't tell them apart.
apart 為副詞，與代名詞連用時須放在代名詞之後：tell them apart（不可說 tell apart them）。