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I don't know the difference between "say to her" and "talk to her".

Please explain to me the answer if you know it.

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This would be an excellent question for the English Language Learners site. – RegDwighт Sep 23 '12 at 17:38

closed as general reference by tchrist, RegDwighт Sep 23 '12 at 17:37

This question is too basic; it can be definitively and permanently answered by a single link to a standard internet reference source designed specifically to find that type of information. See the FAQ for guidance on how to improve it.

2 Answers

As far as I know, there is another distinction.

  • By using say to, you can express that some information was passed, but it could be in writing.

  • Using talk to means that you express by actually saying words out loud.

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It is true that when writing a letter, you might ask, "What should I say here?" But in this age of instant messaging it you might very well also say, "I talked to her this morning" when it was done via IM. The real difference is that say involves a one-way communication, while talk is generally a two-way exchange. – Jim Sep 23 '12 at 17:48
@jim what about speak vs say vs talk ? One day I told my friend to not speak with someone else. He told me: You mean not to talk to ? what is the difference ? Thanks :) – Suhaib Sep 23 '12 at 18:02
@Jim I wonder how should IM be classified? That's true you can find someone 'talking' to someone by IM but I think it is not the same category as 'saying something' buy writing it on the book. Is "I talked to her this morning" still correct of should be something like "I chat with her this morning"? – tomasz74 Sep 23 '12 at 18:10

To say is transitive, while to talk is intransitive.

That is, you can say something, but you cannot simply say.

But you can’t talk something. You can only talk.

Maybe someone for whom English is their first language can explain better.

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