1
general::
Phrase(s): tell something from something else
Go to tell someone from someone else., Phrase(s): tell someone from someone else [and] tell something from something else
to distinguish one from another. • I can’t tell Chuck from Roger. They look so much alike. • I can’t tell orange from yellow., Phrase(s): tell something from something
to know something because of something, such as evidence, signs, experience, etc. • I can tell that she’s lying from the way she holds her eyebrows. • I can’t tell anything from what you told me.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs