英语中say,talk,speak和tell意义相近或相同,都有“说话,讲述”之意,但用法不同,中学生极易混淆。
say(说话,讲话),一般着重讲话的内容,指有连贯性的说话,通常用做及物动词。例如:I don’t know what he said.我不明白他所说的。My watch says six o’clock
now.现在我的手表六点了。常见短语有say sorry to,say hello to, say goodbye to. 但对某人说要用say to somebody,这时say看作不及物动词.Say之后也可以搭配宾语从句say that――比如He said that he had seen the movie before.此外say 也经常用于直接引语。“Don’t be late again.”says the teacher.表示据说It is said that――.(for example)It is said that her mother is ill.(=Her mother is said to be ill.)
talk(讲,说话,交谈),talk强调两个人之间的谈话,有一种交流的意思,与speak的意义相近。一般用作不及物动词,指一般的谈话或交谈,而不如speak正规的“演讲”、“发言”。如,The old man is talking over there.作为不及物动词,跟宾语时必须加上相应的介词talk with/to somebody,talk about something.例如They are talking about English with the teacher.
speak(讲话,说话,演讲),侧重于指正规的“演讲”、“发言”“致词”等(一个人在一群人中讲话),强调说话的动作,强调单方的“说”或“讲”。例如The baby can’t speak.常常用作不及物动词,例如 The headmaster is going to speak at our class meeting.但是跟语言作宾语时看作及物动词,往往直接和语言连用,指人们对语言的掌握或使用,也可单独用来表示发言或说话的基本能力。Can you speak English or Japanese? I can speak neither of them.另外speak 跟人时为不及物动词,speak to somebody 经常用在电话交谈中 Could I speak to Mary,please? ――Sorry, she is n’t here now.
tell(告诉,讲述),tell指把一件事情告知给别人或讲述一件事情、一个故事等,强调一个人向另一个人或多个人传达某种信息。常用作及物动词。该词的用法相对复杂一些,其用法大致可以归纳为五个方面。首先,它是英语中表达讲故事,说实话和撒谎的专用词语tell a story, tell the truth,tell a lie.Don’t tell lies to me, tell me the truth,please.其次,它可以用于双宾结构,即tell somebody something或者用于tell somebody about something。例如,Would you like to tell me the truth? I want to tell you something about my English teacher.第三,它可用于复合结构(宾语+宾语补足语)tell somebody to do something或者 tell somebody not to do something.例如,The teacher often tells us not to be late for class.My mother always tells me to study hard at school.第四,其后还可以跟宾语从句,即tell somebody that――.(for example)He told me that he had learned a lot from the story.最后,用于区分、辨别、比较事物的异同时常常使用tell.比如,Can you tell the differences between Picture 1 and Picture 2?你能说出***一和***二的区别吗?I cannot tell which is which.我分不清哪个是哪个。有时还与from 连用 Can you tell true friends from false friends?你能分清真假朋友吗?
总之,say 强调说话的内容;speak 强调说话的动作,及物时加语言;talk强调两个人之间的谈话;tell则强调告知对方,区分异同。
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