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小奥利奥
小奥利奥
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In English "to speak" and "to say" typically cannot be used interchangeably. You can speak a language but you cannot say a language. Similarly, you can speak with someone but you cannot say with someone (or rather, it wouldn'tcarrywouldn't carry the same meaning). So speak is usually used to describe the nature of speachspeech (what language is being spoken, who it's being spoken to) while say is describing the message being transmitted.

As far as I can tell, 说(话) seems to serve both of these purposes in Mandarin. My question is, are there any other words in Mandarin that can fulfill one role but not the other?

In English "to speak" and "to say" typically cannot be used interchangeably. You can speak a language but you cannot say a language. Similarly, you can speak with someone but you cannot say with someone (or rather, it wouldn'tcarry the same meaning). So speak is usually used to describe the nature of speach (what language is being spoken, who it's being spoken to) while say is describing the message being transmitted.

As far as I can tell, 说(话) seems to serve both of these purposes in Mandarin. My question is, are there any other words in Mandarin that can fulfill one role but not the other?

In English "to speak" and "to say" typically cannot be used interchangeably. You can speak a language but you cannot say a language. Similarly, you can speak with someone but you cannot say with someone (or rather, it wouldn't carry the same meaning). So speak is usually used to describe the nature of speech (what language is being spoken, who it's being spoken to) while say is describing the message being transmitted.

As far as I can tell, 说(话) seems to serve both of these purposes in Mandarin. My question is, are there any other words in Mandarin that can fulfill one role but not the other?

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小奥利奥
小奥利奥
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  • 17

Does the distinction between speak and say have any equivalent in Mandarin?

In English "to speak" and "to say" typically cannot be used interchangeably. You can speak a language but you cannot say a language. Similarly, you can speak with someone but you cannot say with someone (or rather, it wouldn'tcarry the same meaning). So speak is usually used to describe the nature of speach (what language is being spoken, who it's being spoken to) while say is describing the message being transmitted.

As far as I can tell, 说(话) seems to serve both of these purposes in Mandarin. My question is, are there any other words in Mandarin that can fulfill one role but not the other?