speak /spiːk/ vi.to speak
say /seɪ/ vi.to say
talk /tɔːk/ vi.to talk
tell /tel/ vt.to tell
These four words all have the meaning of saying; do you know how to use them? Let’s take a look with the teacher!
1. speak means “to talk” and is an intransitive verb emphasizing the action of beginning to speak or to make a statement; as a transitive verb, its object is a certain language.
Example: Would you like to speak at the meeting?
Translation: Do you want to speak at the meeting?
Example: He speaks Chinese quite well.
Translation: He speaks Chinese quite well.
Besides the above two usages, it can also be used with ‘to’ in the form of speak to sb, meaning “to talk to someone”.
Example: May I speak to Miss Wang?
Translation: Can I talk to Miss Wang?
(This sentence is often used when making a phone call)
Example: He is speaking to the teacher.
Translation: He is talking to the teacher.
2. say means “to say out, to have said” and emphasizes the content of speech, indicating coherent speech, with the object often being the content spoken.
Example: I can say it in English.
Translation: I can say it in English.
Example: I often say “hello” to her with a smile.
Translation: I often greet her with a smile.
Sometimes say is also used with ‘to’ in the form of say to sb, meaning “to say to someone…”.
Example: She says to us, “I like my hometown”.
Translation: She says to us, “I love my hometown”.
3. talk means “to converse, to discuss”, emphasizing the conversation between two parties, generally used as an intransitive verb, often combined with prepositions ‘to’ or ‘with’ to indicate “to converse with…”. When discussing a person or thing, it is followed by the prepositions ‘of’ or ‘about’.
Example: My mother wants me to be confident when I talk with foreigners.
Translation: My mother wants me to be confident when talking to foreigners.
Example: What are they talking about?
Translation: What are they discussing?
Example: We talked about this problem for five hours.
Translation: We discussed this problem for five hours.
4. tell means “to narrate, to inform”, referring to conveying something to someone or narrating a story, often used as a transitive verb, followed by a double object or complex object. Common structures include:
tell sb sth: inform someone of something
tell sb about sth: inform someone about something
tell sb (not) to do sth: inform someone (not) to do something
Example: He tells me his hobby.
Translation: He tells me about his hobby.
Example: Please tell us something about yourself.
Translation: Please tell us something about yourself.
Example: Dad often tells me to save water in our daily life.
Translation: Dad often tells me to save water in our daily life.
Example: Mum told me not to ride a bike quickly. It’s too dangerous.
Translation: Mum told me not to ride my bike too fast. It’s too dangerous.