CONFUSED? TELL, SAY, SPEAK, AND TALK? Part 1. TAMEEM GARGA

CONFUSED?    TELL, SAY, SPEAK, AND TALK? Part 1.

TAMEEM GARGA

These words used to confuse many English speakers. Today, I would like to explain how to use them with examples.

First and foremost, we have to understand that these words are verbs.  They are DOING words (where they are used as Nouns, are not confusable). And there is a relationship between TELL & SAY on one hand, and SPEAK & TALK on the other hand.

SPEAK and TALK are used to talk on a general topic. Eg.  I will speak to him about school.  I will talk to her about school.

TELL and SAY are used to talk on details of the topic. Eg.  I will tell him what our school programs are  during the summer.  He knows that I know whatever he says.  

You can use both say and speak to express your viewpoint or idea. Eg. Say your mind; speak your mind. You cannot use talk or tell with mind to express your idea. But in a specific way, you can use tell+object+mind. Eg. Go tell him your mind. This is not talking about general viewpoint; it talks about a specific idea on a specific problem.