Quote:
Originally Posted by paochai01  Can you help me? I'm working in a call center and I'm quite confused when I hear each agent talking on the phone.
I need info on the ff:
speak to, speak with, talk to, talk with..
which is right? and can you tell me when to use which? thanks. I want everyone of us on the floor to learn. Even supervisors get confused. |
These structures are
usually interchangeable: he
spoke to (with) me for only a few minutes. There may be
sometimes semantic distinctions:
Speak to sounds a bit more one-sided than
speak with, which may imply more action and reaction.
"I spoke to him about my plans".
"I spoke with him about the meaning of life".
"I must speak to him (about what he's done).
I must speak with him about our holidays.
so you "speak to" when you want to tell someone off.
This is it about the theory, in practice however, do not worry too much about these combinations as they are interchangeable.
The same referes to "talk" but "speak" is
slightly more formal.
And last but not least: we speak English and I am not sure if we can talk English, perhaps only in informal register.
This is my opinion, feel free do disagree
.