Appendix 24 of the translation of the Quran by Dr. Rashad Khalifa states the following fact.
[11] The Quranic command “Qul” (Say) occurs in the Quran 332 times. Also, the word “Qaaloo” (They said) occurs the same number of times, 332. Since the false Verse 9:129 contains the word “Qul” (Say), its inclusion would have destroyed this typical Quranic phenomenon.
Except if we check the text of the Quran based on the 1924 Cairo text, we find that this total appears to only be 331 occurrences of the word “Qul” (say), which is one short from what is specified in Appendix 24.
Qul vs. Qal
In Arabic, the word قَالَ (qal) would be translated as “he said,” while قُلْ (qul) is translated as “say.” According to the 1924 Cario text of the Quran there is one semi-ambiguous form written as قَٰلَ, which is used in only five instances: 21:4, 21:112, 23:112, 23:114, and . In three of these instances, we see that قَٰلَ is used in dialogue between two parties and should be understood as Qal “he said,” but in it is not.