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The English verbs speak, talk, tell, and say are related; they all have something to do with forming words. Sometimes they’re interchangeable, but there are always important differences in meaning and grammar among these verbs.
Do You Speak English?
To speak (spoke, spoken) simply means to use words, to communicate with words. It’s the verb that you use with languages:
- How many languages do you speak?
- Brian speaks English, Mandarin, and Korean.
- I’m sorry, I don’t speak Spanish very well.
To speak can also mean something like converse, to exchange words. You can speak to or with someone else about something. In this use, it’s interchangeable with talk.
- I speak/talk with my parents at least once a week.
- Have you spoken/talked to your boss about a raise yet?
- We haven’t spoken/talked in years, since we had a big argument.
To speak can sometimes sound one-sided, emphasizing the speaker (rather than the listener). It suggests that the speaker has something important or interesting to share. It can also sound formal or planned, as in to speak at a conference, to speak to reporters, to speak at a press conference.
- Jill spoke at the conference about her latest research.
- The mayor hasn’t spoken about the city budget yet.
- When the boss speaks, everyone listens.
What Are You Talking About?
To talk (talked, talked) is similar to speak, but not identical. As we saw, you can use it interchangeably with speak in some situations, but remember that you speak (not talk) a language. Speak is more formal than talk, so you don’t talk at a conference. (But you can give a talk.)
- I talk (speak) with my parents at least once a week.
- We haven’t talked (spoken) in years, since we had a big argument.
- Jill gave a talk (spoke) at the conference about her latest research.
Talk sounds more conversational than speak, and less formal. The expressions talk about the weather and make small talk show this. They both convey the idea of talking about something unimportant, simply to be friendly or polite.
- We just sat and talked about the weather.
- What on earth are you talking about?
- Bob talks too much. I can’t concentrate when he’s around!
Also remember that speak emphasizes the speaker, which is why you speak at a conference. Talk sounds more like a conversation, especially a friendly or informal one, between at least two people.
- Let’s talk about the problems we’re having.
- Speak clearly into the microphone.
- We took a walk and talked about our families.
- Janet stood and spoke to the meeting attendees.
Who Told You That?
To tell (told, told) means to communicate information with spoken words, for example a fact, an answer, a story, the truth, a lie, and so on. Think of tell as meaning give + speak. Use it when you give someone information using words.
- Please tell me your name.
- Bill told me about his childhood.
- Don’t tell me the answer. Let me guess.
- She told me everything about her new boyfriend.
Typically, you use tell with wh– (interrogative) noun clauses, since those clauses represent information that is being conveyed.
- She told me where she lives.
- Can you tell me whether I have to come early tomorrow?
- They won’t tell me who made the accusation.
- I’ll tell you what I want to do.
Tell is used with nouns that mean information, like the truth, a lie, a story, the time.
- Don’t tell lies.
- Gloria always tells the truth.
- Can you tell us a story?
- Could you please tell me the time?
Tell is also used in reported commands. It’s followed by a to infinitive in this case.
- “Go to sleep!” = Mom told us to go to sleep.
- “Pull over now!” = The policeman told me to pull over.
- “Please wait.” = They told me to wait.
Tell is a verb like give. You give someone something or give something to someone. You tell someone something, or tell something to someone.
- Amanda told her boss a lie. Amanda told a lie to her boss.
- She told her a lie. She told a lie to her.
- Kevin told his daughters a story. Kevin told a story to his daughters.
- He told them a story. He told a story to them.
What Did She Say?
To say (said, said) is similar to tell, but it’s often used with very short pieces of information, for instance a word or a sentence.
- Julie said hello when I saw her this morning.
- What did you say? I didn’t hear you.
- Doug got in trouble in class because he said a bad word!
- It’s important to always say please and thank you.
That… clauses report speech, and you can use say with them. You also use say if you’re directly quoting.
- Rob said that he was thinking of changing careers.
- The weather report said that it was going to rain.
- Mary said, “I prefer to eat early.” Mary said that she prefers to eat early.
- Who said, “this is going to be easy?” Who said that this was going to be easy?
You can also use say with wh– (interrogative) noun clauses.
- Did she say where she was going?
- My boss didn’t say why she wasn’t coming into work today.
- He didn’t say when he would come back.
Say and tell can sometimes be used interchangeably. One difference is that you typically tell someone information, especially longer information. You say something shorter. If something is medium length, you can either say or tell:
- SAY: a word
- SAY/TELL: an answer, where…, why…, who…
- TELL: an explanation, a story
Tell usually has the idea of giving information, and say focuses more on making an utterance – forming a word or sentence with your mouth.
- Tell me your name, please. I need that information to look up your account.
- Say your name again, please. I didn’t quite catch it.
Tell also carries the sense of giving information to someone. If you simply pronounce your name out loud, you’re saying it. But if you’re giving that as a piece of information to someone else, you’re telling him or her.
- He didn’t say his name. He didn’t tell me his name.
- They didn’t say why they did it. They didn’t tell us why they did it.
- She never said anything. She never told him anything.
Notice that on top of the meaning difference, there’s also an important grammatical difference between say and tell. You tell somebody something, but you say something to somebody.
- I told her my name. I said my name to her.
- We didn’t tell them anything. We didn’t say anything to them.
- Please tell me the answer! Please say the answer to me!
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