# 講(讲) / 說(说)



## vince

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what the difference is between 讲 (jiang) and 说 (shuo). I used to think that 讲 meant "to speak" and 说 "to say", but then I saw sentences like these:

我说不好 (wo shuo bu hao): I am not speaking well

我说得很快 (wo shuo de hen kwai): I am speaking pretty fast

So now I don't think I fully understand the difference. The bad thing is that the verb 說/说 (Cantonese reading: syut) does not exist in Cantonese (only 講/讲 is used) so I cannot use the little Cantonese intuition I have to figure it out.

Can someone help?

Thanks,
Vince


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## conniemeng2005

Hi Vince，although I am Chinese，i cannt explain it clearly. sorry!

u can use “我说不好法语”or “我讲不好法语”or “我法语讲得不好”or “我法语说的不好”to express“i can not speak french very well”

“the teacher is teaching” should be translated “老师在讲课”，we cannt use “说课”here.

in most cases，we can interchange them. but it is not a good way to use "say" or "speak" to distinguish them.

maybe the best way is from Chinese dictionary not the theory.


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## Ana Yelena

说 or 讲 (shuō or jiǎng)

To me (a beginner) - these words seem interchangeable, but some of my classmates insist they have different uses. Unfortunately, I cannot really understand their explanantions. Does anyone else have an opinion?

谢谢
AY


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## Neon1300

In most cases, they are interchangeable.
However, they do have different uses.
You know Chinese words have different meanings when they are combined with other Chinese words.
For example, 说服 = persuade, but there are no Chinese terms that are related to persuade with "讲"

Good luck to your study.


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## Geysere

It's hard to summerize all the usages here, and you will gradually find out the difference through more practice. I think "说" is more like "say" in English and "讲" is more like "speak" or "tell".
Some examples:
"讲故事" but not "说故事" (tell a story)
"他说他要晚点来" not "讲" (He said he will come a bit late) (When quoting we always use "sb.说...")
"讲课" but not "说课" (to teach)
"说话"="讲话" "演讲"="演说"
And there are many more examples in dictionaries...


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## BODYholic

In general,

说 is to say.
讲 is to speak.

Do you have any specific example(s) that we can work on?


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## BODYholic

Neon1300 said:


> For example, 说服 = persuade, but there are no Chinese terms that are related to persuade with "讲"



The 说 (of 说服) is pronounced as 'shui4' which is different from 说 'shuo1' as in 说话.


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## Mugi

> The 说 (of 说服) is pronounced as 'shui4' which is different from 说 'shuo1' as in 说话.


That would depend on where you're from. Many places pronounce it as 'shuo1'.


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## BODYholic

Mugi said:


> That would depend on where you're from. Many places pronounce it as 'shuo1'.



Many places like?


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## samanthalee

BODYholic said:


> Many places like?



Many places like...China. Okay, so it's one place, but it's a very _big_ one place.. In Singapore too, if we want to strictly follow our policy of following the Mandarin standard maintained by China's central government. But in reality, both "shuo1 fu2" and "shui4 fu2" are used in Singapore, with  "shui4 fu2"  being the more common one.


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## BODYholic

Actually, 说 (shui4) and 说 (shuo1) are different words.
说 (shui4) means persuade. Another example, we say 游说 (you2 shui4).


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## samanthalee

I know, I totally agree with you. But dictionaries from China have put the pronunciation of 说服 as *shuo1* fu2 (not shui4 fu2), what can we do?
And the funny thing is, according to those dictionaries, the pronunciation of 游说 is you2 *shui4*. So that's that. Is it logical? No, but languages are allowed to have their insane moments.


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## BODYholic

I think I  know what you mean. Thanks for taking the time to explain.  
感恩。


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## quitecool

I'm a little confused when 讲 or 说 is used.

For example there is 讲话 vs 说话

then there's  讲华语 vs 说华语

Which is right or under what circumstances is each used? 

Can someone help? Thanks!


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## darrenhg

讲--->written  language
说--->spoken   language

​


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## BODYholic

Hi quitecool,

Welcome to the forum. Are you from Singapore too?

First and foremost, I'm not a linguist. As a Chinese language "user", I'm under the impression that 说 is comparatively former than 讲. This is not to say the latter is unrefined.

There was a 讲华语 campaign here about a decade or two ago. And I fondly remembered the tag line was "华人讲华语，合情又合理。". I ain't sure was it a 先入为主的观念, "讲华语" actually sounds better than "说华语" to me ever since.

You can also find a recent thread entitled "讲得出口". To be frank, it doesn't sound natural to me. I would have said 说得出口. 

So, at the end of the day, I guess it boils down to personal preference for most instances.


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## Lucia_zwl

For me, 讲 is a more formal than 说.
讲--(as a verb) to speak, to give a speech, to say something in a logical way
说--(as a verb) to say, to talk
讲话vs说话：别人*讲话*时，你不要在下面和其他人*说话*，这样很没礼貌。-- Don't *talk *to others while someone else is *speak*ing. It's very rude.

You may find it easier to remember their meanings in word collocations (I mean 词语), for example:
讲课-- to give a lesson
讲解-- to explain, to interpret
讲故事-- to tell a story
...
说谎-- to lie
劝说-- to persuade
...

But 讲华语/汉语/英语 and 说华语/汉语/英语 sound no big difference to me.


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## xiaolijie

*Putting aside the important fact that  讲 go better in some combinations and 说 in others* (as in some of the examples by Lucia_zwl above), I find that people from Taiwan often use 讲 where I'd expect 说 from Mainland speakers. So this can be regarded as a regional difference.


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## SuperXW

darrenhg said:


> 讲--->written  language
> 说--->spoken  language​


I don't think this is true...


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## Youngfun

Lucia_zwl said:


> 讲话vs说话：别人*讲话*时，你不要在下面和其他人*说话*，这样很没礼貌。-- Don't *talk *to others while someone else is *speak*ing. It's very rude.


I didn't know this difference. For me, it would be the same to say: 别人*说话*时，你不要在下面和其他人*讲话*，这样很没礼貌。

In Zhejiang, people will use 讲 more often, due to the local dialect influence. People will even say: 他讲你是个笨蛋！你跟服务员讲要一瓶啤酒。


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## Lucia_zwl

Could be regional differences, as Xiaolijie said...For me, generally, "讲话" means "to say something in front of the public and in a logical way", while "说话" is "to chat casually".


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## Youngfun

"讲话" means "to say something in front of the public and in a logical way" -> I think that's true everywhere. We'll never hear a host saying: 邀请领导上台说话！


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## SuperXW

Yes. I would like to conclude the opinions in 3 points:
1. 讲 and 说 are usually interchangable.
2. In some regions (e.g. Beijing), people prefer 说 for casual conversations. In some other regions (e.g. Taiwan) people prefer 讲.
3. In standard Chinese (PRC), 讲话 can mean giving a formal speech, whereas 说话 can not.


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## Moon boy

Although my textbook teaches 您会不会说英语？, I think I have also heard 您会不会讲英语？
Are they both the same or is one colloquial and the other literary?


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## ktdd

Seems to me they are the same and belong in the same register (standard, what your server/cashier/receptionist would use).
I think "您会说英语吗？" is more common and slightly more colloquial.
Maybe your textbook just wants to introduce the concept of affirmative-negative question.


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