What's new

talk with VS speak to

hirashin

Sempai
Donor
8 Apr 2004
2,720
63
63
Dear native English speakers,
I have a question about Donald Trump's tweet.

Just had a long and very good talk with President Moon of South Korea. Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set. Also spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan to inform him of the ongoing negotiations.

I think "had a talk with" and "spoke to" are different. This means Trump didn't "talk" with Abe, right?

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin
 
His tweet is just saying that he talked to Abe. 「あべさんと話した」 or something like that.

To "have a talk" is to have a discussion, and to "speak to" is to speak. The meaning isn't notably different. Different ways of saying "to speak with" can have various implications, but that's highly dependent on context and tone and can vary from region to region, so I wouldn't worry about that.
 
There is sometimes a small difference between the two. "Talk with" can be a back and forth between two parties discussing something. Where "spoke to" can mean one party informing the other party of a certain subject without need of input from the other party. In this context though they can be thought of as having the exact same meaning.
 
I'm not a native English speaker but I can still answer this.
"Talk with" in this context means both leaders had a discussion where they both make meaningful contributions. It's not a case where the president give a speech or "talk to" a group of people where there ideas are not needed or needed any confirmation from them to take an action.
 
Back
Top Bottom