to talk, to say, to tell, to speak

When you speak/talk to the God, what will you say/say to him/tell him?

Ще декілька давніх нотаток про різницю між схожими на перший погляд словами.

To say і to talk — майже синоніми. Треба всього навсього запам'ятати:

• to say something
• to talk to somebody

Детальніше і з прикладами є тут і тут. Вичерпна цитата знайдена за другою лінкою:

Talk and speak are very similar; speak is more formal and less commonly used.

• I want to talk/speak to/with you after work today.
• When my father was unhappy with me, he always talked/spoke to me very formally.
• What did the guests talk about? (here speak is too formal)
• How long did the president talk/speak?
• Don't talk/speak for more than 20 minutes.

Talk and speak are often followed by words like to, with, about and for. We also say things like 'talk/speak slowly and clearly.'

You can say 'speak English'. We don't normally say 'talk English' unless one means talk about English.

You cann't say 'say/tell English', but you can say 'say it/something in English' and 'tell me something in English'

Say is very commonly used:

• What did he say?
• I didn't understand what he said.
• Say that again.
• Say it more slowly.
• I almost always agree with what he says.
• The weather man says it will be much colder tomorrow.

Say and tell are more commonly used for written things than talk and speak are:

• What did John say in his letter?
• The second chapter of the book will tell us about Napoleon's childhood.

Tell is almost aways immediately followed by a noun or pronoun that serves as a direct or indirect object:

• Tell us more about yourself.
• Tell me/Kate/the class what you did on Christmas Day.
• I told the police what I saw.
• I told my story to anyone who would listen.