# I speak vs. I know English



## Pitt

Hi,

I'd like to know if both sentences are correct:

_1 I speak English.
2 I know English._

I am not sure, but i would prefere _speak_.

Thanks in advance!


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## dreamlike

"I speak English" would infer that you have no difficulty using this languange and can freely communicate in English.
"I know English" would, in turn, imply that your knowledge of the English language might be only passive. 

Which one is the case with you? They're both correct statements but can mean different things.


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## sound shift

I would be very surprised to hear "I know English." I certainly couldn't say "I know German", even if my command of German were good, which it is not. 
(Whereas "I know a little English", "I know some English" and similar strike me as idiomatic.)


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## Copyright

I'm inclined to go with sound shift -- "know" might best be used in certain contexts: 

_Do you know any languages other than English?
I know French, Spanish, and a little Italian. _

But as a general statement, I think "I speak Russian" means you speak the language; whereas, "I know Russian" implies you both speak and write it.


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## Pitt

Thanks for all the answers!


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## dreamlike

Copyright said:


> ]"I know Russian" implies you both speak and write it.



Are you sure? Then what about "He knows English but he can't speak it" which I heard coming from native speakers on numerous occassions?


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## Giorgio Spizzi

Yes, dream, it's a very common expression. When the speaker pronounces it I think he's referring to the fact that although the Subject (he) may have studied a lot of English morphology and syntax — and have accumulated a vast amount of passive vocabulary — he has nevertheless rarely been exposed to real communication in the language.
This happened in my youth a lot. Now things have improved dramatically in the language teaching arena.
Needless to say, the expression "He knows English but he can't speak it" is intrinsically wrong. One ought to say something like "He knows the grammar perfectly but he can't speak a word of English".

Best.

GS


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## dreamlike

Giorgio Spizzi said:


> Needless to say, the expression "He knows English but he can't speak it" is intrinsically wrong.



Intrinsically wrong, but gets the point across. At least to me, one who does know English and can speak it


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## LilianaB

dreamlike said:


> Are you sure? Then what about "He knows English but he can't speak it" which I heard coming from native speakers on numerous occassions?



I don't think you can really say _I know_ _a particular language_, if you cannot speak it. Perhaps _I understand English_, or _Swahili_, or _some other language_. _I can write in English, but I cannot speak English_.


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## e2efour

I agree with posts #3 and #11. _I know a language_ is an unusual way of speaking.


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## Loob

sound shift said:


> I would be very surprised to hear "I know English." I certainly couldn't say "I know German", even if my command of German were good, which it is not.
> (Whereas "I know a little English", "I know some English" and similar strike me as idiomatic.)


My reaction was the same as sound shift's: I'd have to qualify "I know {language X}" in some way.  I don't think I could say dreamlike's "He knows English but he can't speak it", though I could say "He knows a fair bit of English but he can't speak it".


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## George French

Now just to put another view of things. I speak, read and converse in my second language with native speakers, but I can't write the language: mainly because I did not/do not need to write the language.

GF..

Know:- "To have a familiarity or grasp of, as through study or experience" http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/know. . Note that the WR dictionary has a similar entry

I was surprised by this defintion....Then I though about it and now I know ....

And I will never claim to know English.....


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## sunnyweather

How about: 

I know English very well. ?


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## london calling

sunnyweather said:


> How about:
> 
> I know English very well. ?


I would assume that your grasp of English (your understanding of it, they way you write it: your passive knowledge of the language) was very good. I wouldn't necessarily assume that you speak it well (your active knowledge of the language), however.


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## roxcyn

Pitt said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'd like to know if both sentences are correct:
> 
> _1 I speak English.
> 2 I know English._
> 
> I am not sure, but *I* would prefer*e* _speak_.
> 
> Thanks in advance!



When someone ask you if you know other languages, you can say I know English, German, etc.  
When someone ask you what languages you speak, you can say I speak English, German, etc.


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## SReynolds

If you have a degree in English, you usually _know_ the language very well. You are familiar with it, you know why things are the way they are and you can explain various phenomena that occur in it. The authors of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Archive.org link) obviously _know_ English amazingly well since they wrote a book on how it actually works.

If you want to convey that you are able to communicate in a language, _speak_ would be the only acceptable choice to me.


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## sound shift

"I know English very well" doesn't sound idiomatic to me - so I would not be sure what the speaker was claiming to possess: a good passive knowledge, good spoken English, or both.


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## DonnyB

sunnyweather said:


> How about:
> 
> I know English very well. ?


That doesn't work for me, I'm afraid it just sounds odd and I wouldn't really know what you meant.

I agree with sound shift and Loob (posts #3 & 13): I'd expect "I know [a language]" to be qualified in some way.
"I know a bit of Latin from when I studied it at school".


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## london calling

Just to say that I agree that "I know English very well" is not idiomatic: it's grammatically correct, but not natural.


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## sunnyweather

I'd like to thank you all for your helpful comments.


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## Phoebe1200

Hi,

What if I don't understand and don't speak a word of Spanish, can I say "I don't know Spanish"?


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## sound shift

I'd say "I don't know any Spanish", Phoebe.


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you.

Also what about "I don't speak Spanish" in this situation? Would it convey the below meaning?


Phoebe1200 said:


> I don't understand and don't speak a word of Spanish


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## sound shift

No, not really, because you could meaningfully say: "I don't speak Spanish but I understand it a bit."


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you, sound shift.


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## 2PieRad

dreamlike said:


> Giorgio Spizzi said:
> 
> 
> 
> Needless to say, the expression "He knows English but he can't speak it" is intrinsically wrong. One ought to say something like "He knows the grammar perfectly but he can't speak a word of English".
> 
> Best.
> 
> GS
> 
> 
> 
> Intrinsically wrong, but gets the point across. At least to me, one who does know English and can speak it
Click to expand...

Just to stir things up a little... 

What if the person was deaf and/or mute? Growing up in the environment, like most natives, he'd know close to no grammar, yet he's functionally fluent, but he's simply not comfortable/capable of speaking it (vocally).

He knows English but he can't speak it.

Though in this situation, I'd rather say "he understands English..."


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## Xavier da Silva

Question:

When I am a *native speaker*, can I say, for example, "I know Portuguese", "Sound Shift knows English'' ?

Thank you in advance!


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## DonnyB

Xavier da Silva said:


> When I am a *native speaker*, can I say, for example, "I know Portuguese", "Sound Shift knows English'' ?


I would say no.  That sounds odd to me, especially if you're talking about your own native language.


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## Xavier da Silva

Thank you very much.

So other than general phrases like "do you know any languages?'', "know" by itself (I know English, I don't know Spanish, etc) doesn't collocate with "language" (English, French, etc) at all.

That is amazingly surprising!

It's clear now!


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## london calling

'Know' does collocate with 'language', but not when you are talking about your native language.

I know some German, I don't know any Portuguese, I know French fairly well.


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## Wai Ho

Pitt said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'd like to know if both sentences are correct:
> 
> _1 I speak English.
> 2 I know English._
> 
> I am not sure, but i would prefere _speak_.
> 
> Thanks in advance!


I've never heard "I know English". Usually, it's "I speak English", but if you want detailed, it's "I know to speak English".


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## sound shift

Wai Ho said:


> "I know to speak English".


I'm sorry, but that's not idiomatic in the context that we've been discussing here.


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## Wai Ho

sound shift said:


> I'm sorry, but that's not idiomatic in the context that we've been discussing here.


We can say "I understand English"


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## sinukg

sound shift said:


> I'd say "I don't know any Spanish", Phoebe.


Could you please tell me whether we can say "I don't know Spanish" without "any"?


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## sinukg

london calling said:


> Just to say that I agree that "I know English very well" is not idiomatic: it's grammatically correct, but not natural.


Could you please tell me a natural way to express the idea?


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## DonnyB

sinukg said:


> Could you please tell me whether we can say "I don't know Spanish" without "any"?


I would say no: it's not very idiomatic


sinukg said:


> ""I know English very well".  Could you please tell me a natural way to express the idea?


Probably something like "I know a lot of English".


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## sinukg

DonnyB said:


> I would say no: it's not very idiomatic
> 
> Probably something like "I know a lot of English".


Thank you. I'd like to ask one more question related to this. We, non-native speakers say "I *speak* English very well". Is this also incorrect?


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## DonnyB

sinukg said:


> Thank you. I'd like to ask one more question related to this. We, non-native speakers say "I *speak* English very well". Is this also incorrect?



No, that looks okay to me.


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## roxcyn

Wai Ho said:


> I've never heard "I know English". Usually, it's "I speak English", but if you want detailed, it's "I know to speak English".


Let's pretend I only know English.  [I go to a Chinese grocery store.]
Owner: [Speaks in Chinese].
Me: Oh, my!  I don't know (any) Chinese.  [Also, I could say "I don't speak Chinese."]
Owner: [Continues speaking Chinese.]
Me: 
Owner: 

I hope that helps, Wai Ho!


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## brit66

dreamlike said:


> Are you sure? Then what about "He knows English but he can't speak it" which I heard coming from native speakers on numerous occassions?


I think "I know a bit of German" is fine but really it must have "a bit of" or "a few words of. The know verb seems to mean passive knowledge and the person might have some idea but they are in no way fluent.


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## Wai Ho

roxcyn said:


> Let's pretend I only know English.  [I go to a Chinese grocery store.]
> Owner: [Speaks in Chinese].
> Me: Oh, my!  I don't know (any) Chinese.  [Also, I could say "I don't speak Chinese."]
> Owner: [Continues speaking Chinese.]
> Me:
> Owner:
> 
> I hope that helps, Wai Ho!


In English, “I don’t speak” means “I don’t know how to speak”, it doesn’t mean “I refuse”


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## velisarius

I wouldn't say "I know a lot of Spanish".  In fact, "I know Spanish very well" sounds more natural to me. 

These work best for me:
_He knows Germany and the German language very well. He lived there for years.
He speaks German very well.
He has an extensive knowledge of Sanskrit. He also knows Ancient Greek._


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## boozer

I feel there are other, non-linguistic, factors at play here. When we describe one phrase as 'idiomatic' or 'non-idiomatic' we really are affected by how we want to be perceived - we do not want to sound arrogant or presumptuous and at the same time we do not want to look stupid or completely ignorant. We want to describe whatever command we have of a language modestly and, at the same time, as accurately and objectively as possible. 

And all those are not language considerations. For me, statements like 'I know Spanish (very well)' and 'I do not know Chinese' are perfectly grammatical and meaningful. Depending on how the first one is said it may sound normal to me or it may sound arrogant - no one can 'know' any language flawlessly and in its entirety with all language skills complete, reading/writing/speaking/listening. This is why people prefer to describe the extent of one or several of their skills.

The phrase that is accepted as standard in describing language command 'I speak English' to mean 'I know English' actually refers to one of the basic language skills - the first one that is required, speaking. Pragmatically, however, we extend this to mean the person 'knows' English. 'I know English', on the other hand, can be interpreted as having passive knowledge of the language, no speaking or writing, but can also be understood as knowing everything there is to know about a language (I know the English language - hence the arrogance of it).


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