WHAT 巽 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "SPEAK" AND "TALK"???

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ESL forum > Grammar and Linguistics > WHAT 巽 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "SPEAK" AND "TALK"???

WHAT 巽 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "SPEAK" AND "TALK"???

jana&lino

WHAT 巽 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "SPEAK" AND "TALK"???

I 惴 teaching 18-year-old students and some of them have already asked me for the same thing:Are there any differences between talk and speak??I never know what to answer.I need some help,thanks

17 Mar 2010

Hi,

Talk and speak can generally be used interchangeably, although speak tends to sound a little more formal than talk. The exception is when you are talking about languages. We prefer speak in this case, for instance: "What language do you speak?" or "He is speaking Spanish right now." Talk would not be used in these sentences. Hope that helps.

Greetings from Toledo.

17 Mar 2010

Translated to spanish, speak is more like hablar and talk conversar.

17 Mar 2010

lshorton99

Generally there is no difference grammatically. Where the difference comes in is in terms of collocation. Speak collocates with certain words and talk collocates with others.

For example,

You talk about your feelings
You speak a language

I think I 扉e seen some good worksheets on the subject - try searching the printables.

17 Mar 2010

jana&lino

THANKS A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!

17 Mar 2010

hongduyen

I want to talk to you = I want to have a conversation with you.

I want to speak to you = I want to tell you something perhaps serious or unpleasant.

I wish you wouldn 愒 speak/talk like that in front of your mother. (both are possible)

Hope this helps.:))

17 Mar 2010

Speak is used in formal seech.

The teacher wants to speak to him seriously.

Talk is used in informal speech

I often talk to my girlfriend on phone.

17 Mar 2010

jana&lino

very helpful,thanks a lot!!!

17 Mar 2010

yanogator

In addition, "speak" can be more physical/mechanical.

Please speak louder. The students in the back can 愒 hear you. As Alicia said, talk is more like conversar. It tends to deal with the human interaction involved, while speak leans more to the fact that words are coming out of your mouth.

We teach a dog to "speak."

We teach a parrot to "talk."

There are, of course, only generalizations.

"Don 愒 interrupt when I 惴 speaking" deals with the action taking place.

"Don 愒 interrupt when I 惴 talking" deals with the conversation (interaction) taking place.

"A policeman is coming to speak to the class" brings a picture of a formal lecture.

"A policeman is coming to talk to the class" sounds more interactive and conversational.

(This is similar to what hongduyen said)

I hope this helps.

Bruce

17 Mar 2010

jana&lino

THANKSSSSSSSSSSSS

17 Mar 2010