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My uncle asked me to telephone my cousin and tell him that he (my uncle) will telephone to my cousin. So I sent a reply to my uncle saying:

I called cousin and told him that you would call him by tomorrow.

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  • Also note that we do not say "he will telephone". Telephone is not a verb. (Or...maybe it technically can be, but no one uses it, so it sounds wrong.) You can say "He will call my cousin" (most common) or "He will phone my cousin" (less common but acceptable, ex "Phone a friend") but you don't say "he will telephone" (and definitely not "he will telephone to").
    – WendiKidd
    Sep 13, 2013 at 13:03

3 Answers 3

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The only mistake is that you cannot call cousin. You can call your cousin or call Bob or call a cousin. Apart from that, your sentence is perfectly correct:

I called my cousin and told him that you would call him.

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You don't need to use 'him' again at the end.

I prefer

I called him and told him that you would call

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  • 2
    ...but you do need a "him" in the middle: "I called him and told him that you would call."
    – Steve Melnikoff
    Sep 13, 2013 at 9:39
  • A good answer provides more information than this. We highly welcome reasons, explanation, and reliable sources which make it easier for the OP and the community to evaluate the correctness of the answer. 'I prefer' is strongly discouraged.
    – user114
    Sep 13, 2013 at 23:24
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As the person 'cousin' is already referred to in your conversation, there is no need to use cousin again you can use a pronoun instead.

So, i would say: I called and told him that you would call him.

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    No; same mistake as in Naniman's answer. "Told" must have an object.
    – Steve Melnikoff
    Sep 13, 2013 at 9:40

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