talk, tell, say, speak

Say / Tell：可以直接接內容或子句（Say yes / Tell me you love me）。

tell(及物)

tell是及物動詞，後面「一定要加人」。 除非tell 後面是一般名詞(不是動名詞/也不是名詞子句)，就可以不用加人。

tell + 人(不可省略) + 內容(子句)

tell + 人 + 內容

• Can you tell the coach I’m sick?
• She told me I was handsome.
• Can you tell him that I will call him back? （你可以告訴他我會回電嗎？）
• He told his parents that he passed the exam. （他告訴父母他考試及格了——這裡省去了 that。）
• He told me (that) he passed the exam.（他告訴我他考試及格了。）
• She told me that she broke up with Eddy. （她告訴我她跟艾迪分手了 )

tell + 人 + about

• Can you tell me more about that story?你可以再多给我讲讲那个故事吗？

Tell + 某人 + to V（叫某人去做某事）

• I told you to water the plants three times every week!
• My boss told me to finish the report by Friday. （我老闆叫我在星期五前完成報告。）
• She told the kids to wash their hands before dinner. （她叫孩子們晚餐前去洗手。）

Tell + 某人 + Wh- 疑問子句

• Don’t tell me what to do! （不要告訴我該怎麼做！／別對我指手畫腳！）
• He tells me how to do my job.

tell + 人 + 名詞

• Tell me something.
• I need to tell you something.
• He told me a secret.
• He told me very romantic things.
• He told me some things.
• Can you tell me more?(more 代名詞)

tell + 名詞

後面接「特定的固定名詞（lies, a story, the truth, a joke…）」，直接當受詞即可，不需要加人：

• Don’t tell lies.
• Can you tell a story?
• He told the truth.（他講了實話。）

say

轉述別人說過的話。

say + 內容

• You said he’s terrible!
• You said he is always late.
• She said (that) she was tired.（她說她很累。）
• She said she broke up with Eddy. （她說她跟艾迪分手了。）
• But you said he’s terrible!
• You said he is always late.

say 名詞 to 人(不可省略)

• He said very romantic things to me.
• He said hello to me.
• He said some things to me.

tell vs. say

這二個動詞都是說「內容」。條件限制如下:

內容

• tell + 人(不可省) + 內容
  • She told me I was handsome.
• say + 內容
  • You said he’s terrible!

名詞

• tell + (人可省略) + 名詞
  • Don’t tell lies.
• say + 名詞 + to + 人(不可省)
  • He said hello to me.

talk(不及物) to/with/about 強調跟「誰」說話

talk 是一個不及物動詞（不能直接加受詞)

talk 強調的是跟「誰」說話，而不是像tell/say著重在「內容」。

如果要說內容，用tell或say。

talk + to + 人

• you’re talking to Leo!
• Talk to me.
• Talk to her!
• Can I talk to you?
• he decides to talk to her.
• We need to talk.(不及物)
• One day, he decides to talk to her.
• Hi, Bea. Can we talk about Carl?
• I haven’t talked to her in five years.
• Are you going to talk to her now?
• Talk to her!

talk + with + 人

• He is talking with his friend.（他在跟他的朋友聊天。）
• Are you going to talk to her now?

talk + about + 名詞

• What are they talking about?（他們在談論什麼？）
• Can we talk about Carl?
• What did he talk about?
• We don’t need to go fishing to talk about things.

talk + to + 人 + 名詞

• Talk to you about something.

speak(不及物) to/with/about 強調跟「誰」說話

speak不及物（不能直接加受詞)

speak「演講、發表談話」，跟上司說話、報告用speak

speak + to + 人

• May I speak to the manager?
• Speak to me.
• You can speak to your boss tomorrow. I
• Can speak to you for fifteen minutes?我可以跟你说 十五分钟的话吗？

speak with 人

• I spoke with Anna, who gave me some tips for hiking safely.我和安娜談過，她給了我一些安全健行的建議。

speak about + 主題

• He spoke about science.

speak to 人 + about 主題

• He spoke to the students about science.(他向學生們發表了關於科學的演講。)

speak(及物動詞)語言

speak + 語言

• She can speak English.（她會說英文。）

talk/speak + about + Ving 動名詞片語

若talk/speak硬要說內容(子句)，要把動詞變成Ving，建議使用tell/say就好了。

主詞跟「內容的主詞」相同，省略內容主詞

• Mary talked about breaking up with Eddy. （瑪麗談到了她跟艾迪分手這件事。）
• Mary spoke about breaking up with Eddy. （瑪麗談論了關於她跟艾迪分手的事)

主詞不同，不能省略內容主詞，主詞要變受格(him,her,them)

• She talked about Mary breaking up with Eddy.
• They talked about the train being late.（他們談論火車誤點。）
• She talked about him being late.（她談到他遲到這件事。）
• She spoke about the team winning the game. （她談論了團隊贏得比賽這件事)

talk/speak + about + wh-疑問詞子句(名詞)

除了Ving動名詞片語，也可以用wh-疑問

• They were talking about why the train was late.
• They talked about how the train was late.（他們談論火車是怎麼誤點的。）