2
general::
Phrase(s): tell people or things apart
to distinguish one from another. • I can’t tell Bob and Bill apart. • I find it easy to tell apart Bill and Bob. • The two cakes look different, but in taste, I can’t tell this one and that one apart., Phrase(s): tell things apart
to distinguish one thing or a group of things from another thing or group of things. • This one is gold, and the others are brass. Can you tell them apart? • Without their labels, I can’t tell them apart.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs