Dear teachers,
Please tell me the difference btw:
- I spoke to him only yesterday.
- I spoke with him only yesterday.
Is it right if I write:
I was speaking to him only yesterday.
Thanks
Quoc
Hi Quoc
You can use either to or with.
There is nothing grammatically wrong with your sentence, but why did you want to use the past continuous instead of the simple past tense?
Amy
Daer teacher,
I spoke to/with him only yesterday.
Is it right if I say:
to: Only I who spoke
with: have conversation btw me and him.
Or they’re the same meaning?
If I use was speaking, is it right? If yes, what is the difference? My teacher wrote was speaking on the blackboard.
Quoc
Both speak with and speak to mean “have a conversation (with somebody)”. However, “speak to” could also be a situation where one person did most/all of the talking.
The use of the past continuous adds a feeling of duration. I asked about the tense because there is neither an obvious reason not to use the simple past tense nor a clear or logical necessity for the past continuous.
Amy
Dear teacher,
You wrote:
Both speak with and speak to mean “have a conversation (with somebody)”. However, “speak to” could also be a situation where one person did most/all of the talking.
So, please tell me how to distinguish :
speak to vs talk to
speak with vs talk with
Please give me examples for illustration.
(I read your reply and also that of Sir Alan but now I can’t understand).
Best regards
Tung Quoc
Hi Quoc
If I call someone, his secretary answers the phone and I say to the secretary “May I speak to John Smith, please?” then I want to have a conversation with John Smith.
If someone says “I spoke to him in no uncertain terms about his being late every day”, then I can imagine a fairly one-sided conversation. A boss may have told an employee that his lack of punctuality was absolutely unacceptable and the employee may have said very little during the conversation.
Amy