Evidence produced by Chomsky (1969) has suggested that 5-year-old children comprehend the verb tell more easily than the verb ask. This paper analyses the interpersonal context of appropriate use of these verbs and reports the results of two comprehension experiments with 5-year-olds. The first experiment, in attempting to correct an apparent methodological weakness in Chomsky's study, reverses her results and elicits a significantly higher frequency of correct responses to the verb ask than the verb tell: the second experiment demonstrates that this age group can consistently identify the speech acts to which the words ask and tell refer. The results are interpreted as support for the conclusion that 5-year-olds can comprehend the meaning of ask and tell, but that their linguistic comprehension is easily dominated by contextual and interpersonal expectations.