INDEX:
1. to speak
2. to speak unclearly
3. to speak a language
4. to speak a little of a foreign language
5. the way someone speaks
6. spoken, not written
7. the ability to speak
8. not able to speak
RELATED WORDS
to make a speech : ↑ TALK
see also
↑ LANGUAGE
↑ SAY
↑ TALK
↑ TELL
↑ VOICE
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1. to speak
▷ speak /spiːk/ [intransitive verb]
to produce words with your voice :
▪ How old are babies when they learn to speak?
▪ Sean didn’t speak the whole time we were in the car.
▪ Don’t interrupt me when I’m speaking.
speak up
speak louder
▪ Can you speak up? -- I can’t hear you.
▷ talk /tɔːk/ [intransitive verb]
to produce words with your voice in order to have a conversation, tell people what you think etc :
▪ You’re not supposed to talk in the library.
▪ Please don’t all talk at the same time.
▷ whisper /ˈwɪspəʳ/ [intransitive verb]
to speak very quietly, using your breath rather than your voice :
▪ We had to whisper because Jill’s mother was in the next room.
▪ Why are you two whispering?
2. to speak unclearly
▷ stammer/stutter /ˈstæməʳ, ˈstʌtəʳ/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to speak with difficulty because you cannot stop yourself repeating the first sound in some words, usually several times :
▪ Savio was a shy man who stuttered when he was nervous.
▪ ‘I d-d-don’t know,’ he stammered.
▪ Most kids who stammer eventually grow out of it.
stutter/stammer/have a stutter/stammer [singular noun]
▪ I used to visit a speech therapist every week because I had a stammer.
▷ mumble /ˈmʌmb ə l/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to speak quietly and not at all clearly, so that it is difficult for people to understand you :
▪ Don’t mumble -- I can’t hear what you’re saying.
▪ An old man sat on the curb, mumbling and laughing to himself.
mumble about
▪ He looked embarrassed, and mumbled something about being sorry.
▷ slur /slɜːʳ/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to speak unclearly, without separating your words or sounds correctly, usually because you are tired or have been drinking alcohol :
▪ After just a couple of drinks, she starts to slur.
slur your words
▪ When Lionel is tired he tends to slur his words.
slurred [adjective]
▪ After many years of boxing, Garcia’s speech is slow and slurred.
▷ lisp /lɪsp/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to speak unclearly because you have difficulty pronouncing "s’ sounds :
▪ As a child she used to lisp.
▪ ‘What time ith it?’ he lisped.
lisp [singular noun]
▪ Bobbi speaks with a slight lisp.
3. to speak a language
▷ speak /spiːk/ [transitive verb not in progressive]
▪ Nadia speaks six languages.
speak French/Japanese/Russian etc
▪ Is there anyone here who can speak Arabic?
▷ know /nəʊ/ [transitive verb not in progressive]
to be able to speak, read, and understand some of a particular foreign language :
▪ I know enough Italian to travel around there.
▪ Do you know any Polish?
▷ fluent /ˈfluːənt/ [adjective]
very good at speaking a foreign language, so that you can speak it quickly without stopping and you understand it very well :
fluent in English/German/Thai etc
▪ Applicants should be fluent in Cantonese.
fluent French/Arabic/Japanese etc
▪ Ann speaks fluent Italian.
fluently [adverb]
▪ Douglas speaks Hindi fluently.
▷ bilingual /baɪˈlɪŋgwəl/ [adjective]
able to speak two languages very well :
▪ About 80 percent of the school’s students are bilingual.
▷ multilingual /ˌmʌltɪˈlɪŋgwəl◂/ [adjective]
able to speak several languages very well :
▪ Many people who work at the European Parliament are multilingual.
multilingualism [uncountable noun]
▪ Multilingualism is very common in several parts of Africa.
▷ speaker /ˈspiːkəʳ/ [countable noun]
someone who can speak a particular language :
speaker of English/Russian/Arabic etc
▪ Speakers of Cantonese often cannot understand speakers of Mandarin.
English/Spanish/Urdu etc speaker
▪ The hotel has two English speakers on its staff.
native speaker
learnt a particular language as their first language as a child
▪ All our English teachers are native speakers.
4. to speak a little of a foreign language
▷ get by /ˌget ˈbaɪ/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
to speak enough of a language to be able to buy things, ask for help etc :
▪ He went to Tokyo and within a few weeks knew enough Japanese to get by.
get by in
▪ I’ve just bought a book called ‘Get By In Portuguese’.
▷ know a few words /ˌnəʊ ə fjuː ˈwɜːʳdz/ [verb phrase not in progressive]
to be able to speak a few words of a language :
▪ ‘Do you speak Korean?’ ‘I only know a few words.’
know a few words of
▪ I used to know a few words of German but I’ve forgotten them all.
▷ have a smattering of /hæv ə ˈsmæt ə rɪŋ ɒv/ [verb phrase not in progressive]
to be able to speak a small but useful amount of a language :
▪ Martin is fluent in French, and also has a smattering of Swedish.
▷ broken /ˈbrəʊkən/ [adjective only before noun]
broken English/French etc
English, French etc that is spoken slowly and badly by someone who only knows a little of the language :
▪ The two students, one Chinese, the other Greek, communicated in broken English.
5. the way someone speaks
▷ pronunciation /prəˌnʌnsiˈeɪʃ ə n/ [singular noun]
the way someone says the words and sounds of a language :
▪ Gianni has problems with his grammar but his pronunciation is very good.
▷ accent /ˈæks ə ntǁˈæksent/ [countable noun]
the way someone speaks a language, which shows which country or which part of a country they come from, and that sometimes shows which social class they come from :
▪ Maria speaks Spanish with a Mexican accent.
▪ I knew from his accent that he was from the South.
▪ She spoke with a distinctly upper class accent.
a strong/broad accent
an accent that is easy to notice
▪ Her companion had a broad Australian accent.
▪ His accent was so strong that I couldn’t understand a word he was saying.
▷ speech /spiːtʃ/ [uncountable noun]
the way someone speaks - use this especially when this is affected by illness, drugs etc :
▪ His speech was slurred and he was having trouble standing straight.
speech impediment
a permanent speech problem, which makes it difficult to pronounce particular sounds
▪ Natalie was born with a slight speech impediment.
6. spoken, not written
▷ spoken /ˈspəʊkən/ [adjective usually before noun]
spoken language is produced with the voice, not written down :
▪ This book will help you with both spoken and written English.
▪ Idiomatic and spoken phrases tend to differ widely throughout the country.
▷ oral /ˈɔːrəl/ [adjective usually before noun]
using spoken rather than written language -- use this especially about tests and exams :
▪ We had a 15-minute oral exam in German.
▪ Anglo-Saxon stories and poems were part of a largely oral culture.
▷ verbal /ˈvɜːʳb ə l/ [adjective usually before noun]
spoken rather than written - use this especially about agreements, warnings, announcements etc that have never been written down and are therefore not always official :
▪ We had a verbal agreement but no written contract.
▪ Federal authorities gave Alascom verbal approval to begin the project.
▷ by word of mouth /baɪ ˌwɜːʳd əv ˈmaʊθ/ [adverb]
if you find something out by word of mouth, you find it out because someone tells you, not because you have seen it advertised, read about it in a newspaper etc :
▪ He learned about the job by word of mouth.
▪ The tribe’s history was passed on by word of mouth.
word-of-mouth [adjective only before noun]
▪ A word-of-mouth recommendation is probably the best form of advertising.
7. the ability to speak
▷ speech /spiːtʃ/ [uncountable noun]
▪ Only humans are capable of speech.
▪ The left side of the brain controls speech.
8. not able to speak
▷ can’t speak /ˌkɑːnt ˈspiːkǁˌkænt-/ [verb phrase]
to be unable to speak because you are too ill, weak, frightened etc :
▪ I was so terrified, I couldn’t speak.
▪ A lump welled up in his throat and he could not speak.
▷ lose your voice /ˌluːz jɔːʳ ˈvɔɪs/ [verb phrase]
to become unable to speak because of illness, or because you have been using your voice too much :
▪ On the first night of the show, the star of the play lost his voice and couldn’t perform.
▷ mute /mjuːt/ [adjective]
unable to speak, especially permanently - use this especially in medical contexts :
▪ A stroke left her mute and unable to use her legs.
▷ dumb /dʌm/ [adjective]
permanently unable to speak because of a physical condition - many people now consider this word to be offensive :
▪ According to the story, he was struck dumb made dumb by the gods.
▪ She was born deaf and dumb.
▷ be at a loss for words/be lost for words /biː ət ə ˌlɒs fəʳ ˈwɜːʳdzǁ-ˌlɔːs-, biː ˌlɒst fəʳ ˈwɜːʳdzǁ-ˌlɔːst-/ [verb phrase]
to be unable to say anything because you are very surprised, upset etc :
▪ Rimes, who is rarely at a loss for words, was overcome with emotion as she received her award.