[General] I had words

[Anil Giria]

I spoke to Ram and I explained the matter to him.

I had words with Ram and I explained the matter to him.

Are both the sentences correct and do they convey the same meaning?

 

[MikeNewYork]

They are both correct, but the meanings are different. "I spoke to Ram" denotes a normal conversation. "I had words with Ram" suggests an argument.

 

[tzfujimino]

Hello, Anil Giria.:-D

I don't think they convey the same meaning.

'To have words with somebody' means 'to have an argument with somebody'.

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/word_1?q=word

'I had a word with ...' would mean the same as the original.

 

[Matthew Wai]

"I had words with Ram" suggests an argument.

I think it would not suggest so if 'a few' was added before 'words', but I am not a teacher.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The word "few" would decrease the possibility of an argument.