Name: SPEAK vs TALK - What’s the Difference? Learn English Grammar
Uploaded: 2018-04-10T09:06:19.000Z
Duration: 13 min 32 s
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Today I'm going to talk about the difference
between “speak” and “talk,” two commonly

Okay, the first verb I want to talk about
is the verb “talk.”

we use "talk" in casual speech in everyday
conversations, if you want to talk about a

simple topic or a casual discussion with friends,
or you just want to report a conversation

that happened, or a discussion that happened,
you can use "talk" to explain this simply

In most everyday conversations, I use "talk,”
you'll hear "talk" a lot when you are listening

to conversations about discussions on the
phone, we use it to explain phone conversations

a lot ,we use it to explain simple meetings
with people, friendly interactions over coffee,

“Talk" is used in most everyday situation.

So if you're reporting on something that's
pretty casual, you should use the word "talk"

Also, if the person you are talking to is
not someone who you have a professional relationship

with, it's pretty good to use "talk" in that
case; if you use "speak,” you might sound

a little too formal, we're going to talk about
this in just a moment, though.

So please try to keep in mind that "talk"
should be used in everyday conversations to

report everyday conversations, and in more
casual situations.

Okay we can also use "talk,” the verb "talk"
with “to” or “with.”

By this I mean we can say, I want to "talk"
to someone, or I want to "talk" with someone.

These are, for me, very very similar, we use
them in very similar ways.

If you want to be extremely specific, I would
say that perhaps there is a small nuance of

a difference between "talk to” and "talk
with.”

If I say I want to "talk to” someone, maybe,
it could be a more one-sided conversation,

like, I want to talk to my friend; I expect
my friend is going to talk to me as well.

But I feel like that has a little more of
a one-sided conversation feel than using "talk

with,” if I say, I want to talk with my
friend, I want to talk with you, about it,

“with,” to me, sounds a little bit more
like doing something together with someone

So again, this is a very very small difference
and perhaps this is just my style and how

I like to use these words, but for the most
part we can use them interchangeably, we can

use them in the same way and you're not going
to really have any communication problems

But just for your information, this is how
I sometimes use “to” and “with” with

the verb "talk,” and with "speak,” too,
as I'll explain later.

Okay, finally, about conjugations for the
verb "talk.”

To make the past tense of the verb "talk,”
talk is…

Okay, finally, about conjugations with the
verb "talk.”

To conjugate the verb "talk" into the past
tense and the past participle, we simply add

So "talk" becomes “talked;” this makes
past tense and past participle.

So a very easy conjugation for the verb "talk.”

So we're going to use this in some example
sentences later, let's take a look, though,

Okay, so we talked about how the verb "talk"
is used in more casual situations, everyday

“Speak,” however, is used in more formal
situations.

If you want to create a more formal nuance
or to have a more formal tone when you speak

So I just used the verb "speak" to sound a
little bit more formal in this explanation,

If you would like to sound a little more formal,
try using the verb "speak" instead of the

This is really useful in business situations,
at work, you can use this in business emails,

as well, or in any kind of writing where you
would like to sound a little more formal.

This is more polite than, as you might have
guessed so, ”talk" has a more casual nuance,

"speak" has a more formal nuance about it.

As with "talk,” we can use this with “to”
or “with,” so "speak to” someone or

Like I talked about, with "talk,” we can
use the two pretty much in the same way, very

very similarly, I would say there's a very
small nuance again.

“Talk to” might sound a little bit more
one-sided, one person is reporting information,

perhaps, and “with” perhaps sounds more
like an exchange of information.

But again, this is a very small difference
in perhaps just a way that I think about how

to use “to” and “with” with these
verbs, but you can use them essentially in

“Speak to” or "speak with” someone.

Finally, there's one other key difference
between "speak" and "talk,” and that is

When you are explaining your language ability,
for example, I speak English, I speak Japanese,

We should always use the verb "speak,” please
don't use the verb "talk" to explain your

So a sentence like, I talk French is not correct,
please use I speak French.

“Speak" is the correct verb to talk about
your language abilities or to talk about your

inability, as well, so please be careful there.

Lastly, a couple conjugation points about
this verb then.

So "speak" in the past tense, "speak" is an
irregular verb, "speak" becomes “spoke”

So please be careful here, also, to make the
past participle form, "speak" becomes “spoken.”

So there are two conjugations we need to consider
for today's practice, spoke and spoken, past

Okay, so now that we reviewed a couple points
about the difference between "talk" and "speak,”

let's take a look at a few examples sentences,
and maybe we can decide which verb is a better

Okay, first one, he _______ to his manager.

Our hint word here is the word “manager,”
this implies it's a work situation so it's

probably a good idea to sound a little more
formal, let's use spoke, past tense.

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SPEAK vs TALK - What’s the Difference? Learn English Grammar

situation

determine

typically

conversation