说 shuō — persuade (politically); to speak; to say
请你慢慢说，我在听。Qǐng nǐ màn màn shuō, wǒ zài tīng.Please speak slowly; I'm listening.
Common words: 说话 (shuō huà)、说明 (shuō míng)、听说 (tīng shuō)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "to speak"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to speak", including 说 (shuō), 言 (yán), 谈 (tán), 讲 (jiǎng), 曰 (yuē). Study pinyin, English meanings…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "to speak" covers 5 different Chinese characters — 说 (shuō), 言 (yán), 谈 (tán), 讲 (jiǎng), 曰 (yuē) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 5 characters do not share a sound — their readings span shuō, yán, tán, jiǎng, yuē — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 说 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 说 shuōpersuade (politically); to speak; to sayUseful words: 说话, 说明
- 言 yánto speak; to say; talk; wordUseful words: 语言, 发言
- 谈 tánto speak; to talk; to converse; to chat; to discuss; (surname)Useful words: 谈判, 谈话
- 讲 jiǎngto talk; speech; to speak; to tell; to explainUseful words: 讲话, 听讲
- 曰 yuēto speak; to sayUseful words: 子曰, 号曰
Common words for these 5 "to speak" characters
Anchor each of these 5 characters in a word you can picture — start with 说 (shuō) — so "to speak" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
说话shuō huàto speak; to say; to talk; to gossip说明shuō míngto explain; to illustrate; to indicate; to show听说tīng shuōto hear (sth said); one hears (that); hearsay; listening and speaking语言yǔ yánlanguage发言fā yánto make a speech; statement; utterance留言liú yánto leave a message; to leave one's comments; message谈判tán pànto negotiate; negotiation; talks; conference谈话tán huàto talk (with sb); to have a conversation; talk; conversation会谈huì tántalks; discussions讲话jiǎng huàa speech; to speak; to talk; to address
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 5 ways to say "to speak".
言 yán — to speak; to say; talk; word
行动比语言更重要。Xíng dòng bǐ yǔ yán gèng zhòng yào.Actions are more important than words.
Common words: 语言 (yǔ yán)、发言 (fā yán)、留言 (liú yán)
谈 tán — to speak; to talk; to converse; to chat; to discuss; (surname)
我们坐下来谈一谈。Wǒ men zuò xià lái tán yi tán.Let us sit down and have a talk.
Common words: 谈判 (tán pàn)、谈话 (tán huà)、会谈 (huì tán)
讲 jiǎng — to talk; speech; to speak; to tell; to explain
老师正在讲一个有趣的故事。Lǎo shī zhèng zài jiǎng yí ge yǒu qù de gù shi.The teacher is telling an interesting story.
Common words: 讲话 (jiǎng huà)、听讲 (tīng jiǎng)、演讲 (yǎn jiǎng)
曰 yuē — to speak; to say
古书上常常写着“子曰”两个字。Gǔ shū shàng cháng cháng xiě zhe “zǐ yuē” liǎng ge zì.Ancient books often have the words the Master said.
Common words: 子曰 (zǐ yuē)、号曰 (hào yuē)、诗曰 (shī yuē)
All 5 characters
Open 说、言、谈 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.