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Tell
= to give information to somebody by speaking or writing
tell someone something: 'I told him about it.'
tell something to somebody: 'He told the news to his co-worker.
'Please, tell me your name'
= we usually say who is told (personal object) and what they were told
'I told him...', 'They told us...', 'We told them...'
'He told me ( that ) he was hungry.'
'Mary told me to eat dinner.'
'Our parents told us about it.'
Say
= Never has a person as the object. You say something or say something to
somebody.
Tell me what he said to you.
I want to say something on this subject.
= The construction 'He said that' is very common, but the 'that' is often omitted in informal
writing and speech.
She said (that) she worked in the big company.
He said (that) he was ill.
Sally said that John would be late to the party.
Both ' SAY ' and ' TELL ' can be used in direct or indirect speech.
DIRECT SPEECH: I said:' I'm hungry'. / I told him: 'I'm hungry'.
INDIRECT SPEECH: I said that I was hungry'. / I told him that I was hungry.
Speak = We often use it for one-way communication, and also for more serious or formal
situations.
I need to speak to you after class.
The king of this country spoke to the audience about the war.
= When we want to refer to a person's ability to speak a language.
He speaks two languages.
Do you speak English?
Talk
= It is used about a general topic. It cannot be used to report specific indirect
speech.
This verb usually refers to two or more people exchanging or sharing information.
We talked about my big project.
Let's talk about it!
Both ' SPEAK ' and ' TALK' have similar meanings.
There is no big difference between them.
They can often be used in the same situation.
I spoke to her about the meeting.
I talked to her about the meeting.
('SPEAK' has a more serious or formal tone.)
1. Your father
2.
3. He always
5. Can we
6. You should
7. I don't want to
8. English is
. Leave me alone!
. It drives me crazy.
about clothes.
you a joke.
the same language.
Chinese?
Speak or talk?
from English Grammar Today
Speak and talk: uses
The verbs speak and talk both generally mean say words, but there are some small differences in how they are used. Speak is more formal
than talk.
Compare
2.
3.
I need
to talkto
you.
1.
2.
We usually use speak for more formal presentations and lectures, and talk for more informal ones:
Kyle is going to talk us through the benefits of the software and then Liz will talk about the marketing plan.
Speak usually only focuses on the person who is producing the words:
He spoke about the importance of taking exercise and having a good diet.
Talk focuses on a speaker and at least one listener, and can mean have a conversation:
I hope I can meet you to talk about my plans for the company.
Compare
else.
Is Rita there?
B:
Whos speaking?
A:
We usually use to after speak and talk. In more formal situations, people sometimes use with:
I was talking to Richard Moss the other day about the golf club.
Typical errors
They can talk and get to know each other over dinner.
Speak, talk
Speak and talk have similar meanings. They suggest that a person is using his or her voice, or that two or more people are having a
discussion.
What are you talking about?
Who were you speaking to on the phone?
I was talking to Mark about cricket.
How old were you when you learned tospeak?
We say:
speak to somebody (about something)
talk to somebody (about something)
We
Tell,say:
sayspeak a language
talk a language
talk nonsense
speak nonsense
Speak to is a little more formal than talk to, and is often used
We use: tell + clause when we include a pronoun such as me, him, us, etc.
She told me (that) she was ill.
in polite requests.
[on the phone] Hello, could I speak to Mr Jones, please?
We use: say + something + to somebody.
We
tell
tell
tell
tell
Uses
Say
Examples
Tell
Tell is used
to tellsomeone to
do something
Toms
mother told him to
clean his room.
Alice said a
naughty word...
(not Alice told a
naughty word...)
Ill tell you
tomorrow. (not Ill
tell
you ittomorrow.)
I dont want
to tell youagain to
get your
homework done.
Talk
Speak
Ill have
to speak to that
boy -- hes getting
very lazy.