are 說 and 講 different?

[tooironic]

Are there any differences between 說 and 講?

I was told that 我跟他說話 is correct whilst 我跟他講話 is not. Can anyone clarify on this? Thanks.

[xiaocai]

I don't see anything wrong with 我跟他讲话. Any context?

[semantic nuance]

Both are used. No difference to me.

[xuechenze]

Both are the same meaning of "speak" , as a native speaker, I think no difference for me.

[jbradfor]

I assume, though, that there are some words in which you can use only one or the other? That is, they are not interchangeable in all situations?

[custom_art365]

講 used for leader or elder.

Because there are some meanings of intruction, education or even criticism in it.

So never say 我跟張局長講話 except for you are 廳長 or 部長.

[陳德聰]

I was always under the impression that they are more or less interchangeable except in set expressions, but that usage differs along North/South boundaries... I have absolutely no real concrete proof, but when I speak Cantonese I pretty much exclusively use 講 and almost never even hear 讲 when speaking with Mandarin speakers.

If it's not a North/South thing, it definitely feels very colloquial vs. old-fashioned to me.

[Leihuangdi]

I don't think there's a big difference either as a native speaker. But 说 does sound more like colloquial chinese, whereas 讲is usually used on formal occasions. e.g. to give a talk on a conference/在开会时，请xxx讲话). And generally speaking, there should be people listening if you 讲，but not necessarily when you 说.

It depends on the dialect as well, for instance 说doesnt really exist in Cantonese, there's only 讲all the time.

I hope this is helpful.

[skylee]

It depends on the dialect as well, for instance 说doesnt really exist in Cantonese.

I don't think this is true. It does exist, like in 談天說地, 風花說月 etc. But I agree that we hardly use 說 in Cantonese if we simply want to say "speak" or "say".

[外国赤佬]

Can 說 be a verb in Cantonese?

Shanghainese also only uses 講. I think it's the original Middle Chinese word for 'speak'.

Many basic verbs shifted their meanings in Mandarin. E.g. 行->走 (original meaning: to run)，食->吃 (original meaning: to stutter)，飲->喝 (original meaning: to shout loudly; actually there's a separate character for this specific Mandarin word: 欱, but nobody remembers it anymore)，書->寫, etc.

[Leihuangdi]

@Skylee is absolutely right, I meant it does not exist on its own.

There's also 话 in Cantonese that sometimes means to say.

[li3wei1]

According to 1700 对近义词语用法对比, you can say 讲课，讲学，and 说他，but not 说课，说学，or 讲他. It also says that 说 carries the meaning of 学说, and 讲 doesn't, and that 说 can imply criticism or fault-finding, and 讲 doesn't.

[OneEye]

In Taiwan I hear 講 much more often than 說 (in Mandarin). It does seem like a Northern/Southern thing to me too, though I'm hardly qualified to say one way or another beyond just a feeling.

Then of course in Taiwanese you always hear 我跟你講 when people are arguing. Or I think in 台語 it's 哇給汝講, pronounced something like wā gǎ lī gòng (where the wā is a mid-level tone, not like 1st tone in Mandarin).

[roddy]

说 can imply criticism or fault-finding

I think that's a fairly specific usage where you have, eg, 说我 and then nothing about what was actually 说ed. That's very clearly criticism or a telling off - 老师又说我了，又被老婆说了.

[renzhe]

In Taiwan I hear 講 much more often than 說 (in Mandarin). It does seem like a Northern/Southern thing to me too, though I'm hardly qualified to say one way or another beyond just a feeling.

I'd concur with this. I hear 說 much more often in Mainland materials. In Taiwanese materials, I'll often hear 講 where I'd expect 說.

It seems to be regional, and they are equivalent for most purposes.

[OneEye]

Oh wait, I know this one!

Our very own Daan recently published a corpus of Sina Weibo messages that includes a really cool geo-lexical thing. From looking around there for a few minutes (make sure to use the "lexical data" search, and use both traditional and simplified for both characters), 講 certainly does seem to have a stronger correlation to the south.

Of course, in schools here in Taiwan, you'll learn 說 long before you learn 講, and you're taught phrases like 對我來說. It's only after you branch out of the classroom that you realize nobody says that, and you're much more likely to hear 對我來講.

[semantic nuance]

in schools here in Taiwan, you'll learn 說 long before you learn 講, and you're taught phrases like 對我來說. It's only after you branch out of the classroom that you realize nobody says that, and you're much more likely to hear 對我來講.

Are you sure? I use both of them in Taiwan and I'm from Taiwan.

[OneEye]

I may have been exaggerating. I tend to use hyperbole when talking about things that frustrate me about the language education for foreigners here.

Of course it's used, but to me it seems that 講 is more common.

[Kobo-Daishi]

I've made an informal unscientific survey and I've come to the conclusion that on Taiwan they use shuo way more often than they use jiang to mean "speak".

I think it's just that to some not used to hearing jiang used to mean "speak" get the impression that it's used more often because the shock of hearing it the first few times leaves an ingrained false belief that it's used more often.

Kobo.

[shk00design]

My family are Cantonese speakers. In Cantonese you use jiang 講 as in: 我跟你講過 instead of 我跟你說過. Tend to think when speaking in Mandarin, both are interchangeable in most cases.

The bottom line is as long as you are understood, makes no difference which you use...