說 vs 講: Saying and Telling in Taiwan Mandarin

說 (shuō) and 講 (jiǎng) both mean “to say” or “to speak”, and in a great many sentences you can swap one for the other. 說中文 and 講中文 are both “speak Chinese”. 說話 and 講話 are both “talk”. The Taiwan Ministry of Education dictionary (國語辭典) defines 講 as 談、說, and 說 as 訴說、告訴.

The practical rule is short. Use 說 for what someone said and for fixed words. Use 講 when someone is talking something through, explaining, or speaking on the phone. When a sentence is about “telling a person”, add 告訴 or 跟…說. People in Taiwan use 講 a great deal in ordinary speech, so you need to understand it even if you prefer 說.

When to use 說

說 is the safer default for a learner. It is the usual choice when reporting speech, and it is fixed in a few words.

Reporting what someone said.

• 他說他明天不來。 (He said he isn’t coming tomorrow.)
• 老師說什麼？ (What did the teacher say?)

Fixed words built on 說. The words 說明, 說謊 and 說服 are set; 講明白 also exists, but 說明 is the word.

• 說明 (shuōmíng): to explain, an explanation, also the instructions printed in a manual
• 說謊 (shuōhuǎng): to lie
• 說服 (shuìfú): to persuade. Note the reading: 說 here is shuì, the MOE reading for persuading, which also appears in 遊說 (yóushuì, to lobby).

Where 說 is the safer default. 講中文 is just as correct as 說中文.

• 你會說中文嗎？ (Can you speak Chinese?)
• 這個字怎麼說？ (How do you say this word?)

The last example is a question learners ask all day. Both 這個字怎麼說 and 這個字怎麼講 are heard, and 怎麼說 is the one to teach yourself first.

When to use 講

講 shows up where the speaker is going through something at some length, or where the setting is a phone, a lecture or an argument.

• 講電話 (jiǎng diànhuà): talk on the phone. ✗ 說電話 is not used, so this one is fixed.
• 講課 (jiǎngkè): to teach a lesson, to give a lecture
• 演講 (yǎnjiǎng): a speech, to give a talk
• 講道理 (jiǎng dàolǐ): to be reasonable, to reason with someone
• 講故事 (jiǎng gùshi): to tell a story. 說故事 is also correct.
• 講笑話 (jiǎng xiàohuà): to tell a joke. 說笑話 is also used.

Beyond these set expressions, 講 appears constantly in conversation. A Taiwanese friend will say 你在講什麼？ (What are you talking about?), 不要講了 (stop talking about it), or 我跟他講過了 (I’ve already told him). The same sentences with 說 are also fine, and you will hear them too. It is a habit, and both are correct. 講 is the everyday verb for naming languages too: 講國語 and 講台語 are normal Taiwan collocations. Many people link this to Taiwanese Hokkien, where “to speak” is also 講 (kóng), as covered in Taiwanese Hokkien for Mandarin learners. For the wider picture, see Taiwanese vs Mainland Mandarin.

”Tell someone”: 告訴 and 跟…說

Both 說 and 講 describe saying. To tell a particular person something, English “tell” needs a recipient, and so does Chinese.

Pattern	Example	Notes
告訴 + person + what	告訴我你的名字。	Direct, works in speech and writing.
跟 + person + 說 / 講	我跟他說過了。	The everyday spoken way.
對 + person + 說	他對我說，不用擔心。	A little more narrative, as in a story.

告訴 is read gàosu in the Ministry of Education dictionary when it means “to inform” (the light second syllable), and gàosù is a different word meaning to bring a legal complaint. The first is the everyday word. A common mistake is 說我: for “tell me”, say 告訴我 or 跟我說, because 說我 on its own usually reads as “talk about me” or, in some contexts, “criticise me”.

Telling and knowing often come up in the same conversation, and the verbs for knowing are sorted out in 知道, 認識, 懂, 了解.

談 and 聊: discussing and chatting

Two more verbs fill gaps that 說 and 講 leave.

談 (tán) is talking about something with a purpose: discussing, negotiating, or going through a topic. It is also the verb for romantic relationships.

• 我們來談一談這個問題。 (Let’s talk this problem through.)
• 他們在談生意。 (They are discussing business.)
• 談戀愛 (tán liàn’ài): to be in a romantic relationship. The Ministry of Education dictionary has 談戀愛 as an entry. Say 談 here, since ✗ 說戀愛 and ✗ 講戀愛 are not used.

聊 (liáo) is relaxed talk. 聊天 (liáotiān) is “to chat”, and 聊聊 (liáoliao) is a gentle “let’s talk a bit”.

• 我們去喝咖啡，聊聊天吧。 (Let’s get a coffee and chat.)
• 我昨天跟朋友聊了很久。 (I chatted with a friend for a long time yesterday.)

A quick chooser

You want to say	Use
speak a language	說 or 講
he said that…	說
talk on the phone	講電話
explain	說明, or 講解 (jiǎngjiě, explain and analyse)
tell someone	告訴, or 跟…說
discuss, negotiate	談
chat	聊天
tell a story or a joke	講 or 說

A short exchange

Here is how the verbs sit together in one ordinary conversation.

• 你跟老闆講了嗎？ (Did you tell the boss?)
• 講了，他說可以。 (I did, and he said it’s fine.)
• 他怎麼說的？ (What exactly did he say?)
• 他說下週再談。 (He said we’ll talk it over next week.)

講 carries the telling, 說 reports the answer, and 談 takes the follow-up discussion. Swap 講 and 說 in any of these lines and the conversation stays natural.

Saying them aloud

說 is shuō (ㄕㄨㄛ, first tone) and 講 is jiǎng (ㄐㄧㄤˇ, third tone). When 講 comes before another third-tone syllable, as in 講好 (jiǎnghǎo), the first one rises in speech. That is ordinary tone change in Taiwan Mandarin.

Related reading

• 知道, 認識, 懂, 了解: How to Say “Know” in Chinese
• Taiwanese vs Mainland Mandarin
• Mandarin Tone Sandhi