跟我说话
gēn wǒ shuōhuà
In Chinese, the phrase for 'talk to me' is 跟我说话 (gēn wǒ shuōhuà).
A request for someone to speak to the speaker.
What does it mean word for word?
The preposition 跟 (gēn) literally means 'with' or 'to' in this context.
Which one should you use?
跟我说话 (gēn wǒ shuōhuà) focuses on the act of conversation or the state of speaking to someone, whereas 跟我说 (gēn wǒ shuō) is more commonly used when asking someone to convey specific information.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Cantonese, you can say 講俾我聽 (Gong bei ngoh teng) to say 'Talk to me'. In Taiwanese Hokkien, you can say 同我講 (Tông guá kóng) to say 'Talk to me'.
How does it change in a sentence?
If you want to say 'tell me [something]' rather than just 'talk to me', you can shorten the phrase to 跟我说 (gēn wǒ shuō).
How do you pronounce it?
gēn wǒ shuōhuà
Did you know?
- In many Chinese-speaking cultures, instead of saying 'talk to me' to initiate a deep conversation, people often use the phrase 聊聊天 (liáo liáo tiān), which literally translates to 'chatting the sky'.
- The character 跟 (gēn) originally referred to a 'heel'. This is why it evolved from meaning 'to follow' to meaning 'with' or 'to' when initiating a conversation with someone.
- In traditional Chinese social etiquette, asking a superior to 跟我说话 can be seen as overly direct. A more polite approach often involves using a 'softener' or a title to avoid sounding like a command.
Examples in context
- 别再跟我说话了！Don't ever talk to me again!This example shows how to use the phrase in a command to stop talking to someone.Tatoeba #5715198 by verdastelo9604, translation #2635460 by Joseph
- 尽管我恳切地要求，他们还是拒绝跟我说话。They refused to talk to me in spite of my earnest request.This sentence illustrates a situation where someone refused to talk to me in spite of my earnest request.Tatoeba #1565720 by GlossaMatik, translation #1565748 by eastasiastudent
- 我不是小孩子，但有时你跟我说话就好像我是小孩子一样。I'm not a child, but sometimes you talk to me as if I were a child.This sentence shows the phrase being used to describe the manner in which someone is being spoken to.Tatoeba #4764534 by ryanwoo, translation #257968 by CK
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Yuting notices Wei is feeling sad and quiet.
- 雨婷 Yuting伟，你怎么不跟我说话？Wěi, nǐ zěnme bù gēn wǒ shuōhuà?Wei, why aren't you talking to me?
- 伟 Wei我只是在想事情。Wǒ zhǐshì zài xiǎng shìqíng.I'm just thinking about some things.
- 雨婷 Yuting请跟我说话，告诉我发生了什么。Qǐng gēn wǒ shuōhuà, gàosù wǒ fāshēngle shénme.Please talk to me and tell me what happened.
- 伟 Wei好吧，我告诉你。Hǎo ba, wǒ gàosù nǐ.Alright, I'll tell you.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
