Tell / Say / Speak / Talk

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

me that you are good at speaking French.

me, do you love your parents?
me some interesting stories about his cats.

4. Yesterday, we were sitting, drinking coffee and

about the weather.

5. Can we
6. You should

tomorrow? I have to go to work now.

to your parents about that.

7. I don't want to
8. English is

you again and again to do your homework.

all over the world.

9. I don't have anything more to

10. They never stop

. Leave me alone!
. It drives me crazy.

11. The president

about peace and friendship between our countries.

12. The girls love to

about clothes.

13. Speak up! My grandmother can't hear what you're

14. Who is

? - This is Oliver Novak speaking.

15. Listen to me. I would like to

16. My parents don't always

you a joke.
the same language.

17. I'm confused by his behaviour. That's why I

18. She

. She is a little deaf.

to his parents yesterday.

"goodbye" to him and went away.

19. I never believe anything they

. They are often dishonest.

20. He probably knows five languages. Does he

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

Formal. It is possible that:

1.
I need
tospeak to
you.

the speaker does not know you very

well.

2.
3.

this is in a formal setting, such as work.

I need

what the person has to say is

important/serious.

Informal. It is possible that:

to talkto
you.

1.
2.

the speaker is your friend.

the speaker is someone you dont know
very well, but what they have to say is informal.

We usually use speak for more formal presentations and lectures, and talk for more informal ones:

Dr Graham Foster will speak about the history of the region.

Kyle is going to talk us through the benefits of the software and then Liz will talk about the marketing plan.

When we refer to languages, we use speak:

How many languages do you speak?

Not: How many languages do you talk?

I wish I could speak Italian.

Not: talk Italian.

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.

Not: I hope I can meet you to speak about my plans

Compare

He always looks down

when he isspeaking.

The focus is on his use of his voice to

produce words. Speakfocuses only on
the person who is producing the
words.

I was talking toMaria y

esterday.

The focus is on the use of words as

part of a conversation with someone

else.

We use speak on the telephone:

A:

Is Rita there?
B:

Whos speaking?
A:

My names Anna. I work with her.

Not: Whos talking?

Hello, can I speak to Laura, please?

Speak and talk with prepositions

We usually use to after speak and talk. In more formal situations, people sometimes use with:

I need to speak to you about this conference next week.

I was talking to Richard Moss the other day about the golf club.

May I speak with you for a moment? (rather formal)

Typical errors

We dont use talk when referring to foreign languages:

I can speak German and Spanish.

Not: I can talk German and Spanish .

We dont use speak to focus on conversation:

They can talk and get to know each other over dinner.

Not: They can speak and get to know each other

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

He speaks four languages.

I told David about it.
Stop talking nonsense!
Did you tell him?
He told me (that) he was ill.

We use: tell + somebody.

Speak to and talk to are used more often than speak
with and talk with.
We use: say + clause.

I was talking to Tom yesterday.

She said she was ill.

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.

She said hello to me.

We
tell
tell
tell
tell

She told me (that) she was ill.

She told me the news.
Tell me about your new job.
He told me where it was.

use tell when we are giving facts or information:

somebody (that) ...
somebody something
somebody about something
somebody who/when/where.

Uses

Say

Examples

used with direct and

indirect speech

Say is most often used

without a personal
object.
If we want to put a
personal object
after say, we use to.

She said that it

was my last
chance.
He said, Good
morning.
She said that she
would be late.
(not She said
me...)
And I say to all
the people of this
great country...

Tell

used with direct and

indirect speech
after tell, we usually
say who is told,
i.e., tellsomeone
something

only used to mean

instruct or inform

She told me that

she would be late.

She told me that

it was my last
chance.
(not He told them,
Good morning.)

Tell is used
to tellsomeone to
do something

Tell is not used before

objects like a word, a
name, a sentence, a
phrase.
We do not usually
use itafter tell to refer to
a fact.

tell someone again

(repeat)

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

There is not very much

difference
between speakand talk.

When she walked

into the room
everybody
stoppedtalking.

Talk is the more usual

word to refer to
conversational
exchanges and
informal
communication.

Speak

is often used for oneway communication

and for exchanges in
more serious or formal
situations.

Ill have
to speak to that
boy -- hes getting
very lazy.

Speak is the usual

word to refer to
knowledge and use of
languages.

After she had

finished reading
the letter,
nobodyspoke.
She speaks three
languages fluently.