the differences among some chinese words about "talk" I‘m trying to help a friend understand the differences among some chinese words about "talk". i never realised those chinese vocabularies were so complicated before:P 欢迎各位指正！ 说[shuo] = say ： A对B说....（A says .... to B） 他说....(he says...) 说话[shuo hua]= "say sth"，or "speak": for example: 不要说话（don't speak, or don't say anything） 他在说话（he is speaking） 对话[dui hua]= "conversation" or "have a conversation" or "talk with" . “对话”here can be understood as"对"+"话"。 "对"here is like "towards each other", like "相对". “话”means sth u say in a conversation. so "对话" is like "talk" or "conversation" and should be used in a intransitive way or as a noun. for example: A在与B对话（A is talking with B） 我们应该多对话。（we should talk to each other more.） 我们进行了一次对话。（we had a conversation） 我记录了我们的对话。（i kept a record of our conversation） 谈[tan]= talk about, disscuss for example: 老板要跟我谈工作问题.(Boss is gonna talk about my work with me) (Boss is gonna discuss my work with me. ) 谈谈[tan tan] is similar to 谈 but less formal or less serious. "谈谈" can be used at the end of a sentence as an intransitive verb but “谈”can not. for example: 老板要跟我谈谈工作问题。（Boss is gonna talk about my work with me.） 让我们谈谈。（let's talk.） * U can say "让我们谈谈" but never "让我们谈"。If u'r not sure about "谈" or "谈谈"， it's safer to use "谈谈" as it can be used more widely. 谈话[tan hua]="conversation" or "have a conversation" or "talk with". "谈话" is similar to "对话" and can be used almost in the same way. But these's slight diffence still. "对话" lay more emphasis on "对"，and it's more about the action of talking itself. "谈话" put more emphasis on the content of the conversation. * If u'r not sure about "谈话" or "谈谈" as a verb， it's safer to choose "谈谈" cuz it can be more widely used as a verb. but "谈谈" cannot be used as a noun. * "对话" sometimes is also used as "commutication" or "interaction" like in "人机对话"（man-machine interaction). "谈话" can't be used this way. 聊[liao] is similar to "谈" but more casual, more like a chat but not a conversation. 聊聊[liao liao] is similar to "谈谈" but more casual, more like a chat but not a conversation. 聊天[liao tian] is similar to "谈话" but much more casual. just a casual chat or even meaningless chitchat.