Talk vs Speak
Talk
= to have a conversation with someone
In spoken English we usually use talk in the continuous form.
Ex: I was talking with him about the game on TV.
Ex: People in the movie theatre kept talking during the movie.
Ex: That girl talks forever.
Prepositions used with talk
We use “to” with talk to show who we are directing our words at.
We use “about” with talk to give the information.
Ex: I need to talk to you about last night.
Ex: Did he talk to you about his trip?
Speak
= referring to a language or when conversations are more of a monologue.
Ex: What languages can you speak?
Ex: Can you speak English fluently?
Ex: He was speaking to his employees about the new services.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Speak is a little more formal than talk, so if someone wanted to speak with me, I would think it is more important than if they want to talk to me.
Prepositions used with speak
We use “to” and “about” the same way as talk.
Ex: Did you speak to him about what I said?
We use “with” to show WHO we are speaking to or to show HOW we are speaking (usually referring to accent.)
Ex: Have you ever spoken English with an Irish person?
Ex: They speak with a really strong accent.
