Mehrdad
Do you speak German? Or Do you speak in German? Is there any subtle difference here?
Sep 14, 2019 5:53 PM
Answers · 3
1
Speak IN + language is literally correct but not natural. It is a typical non-native speaker choice. The "in" is not native when placed immediately before the name of the language. BUT this would be natural for a native speaker. "Can you please speak to me in English? I don't understand other languages." You CANNOT say here: "Can you please speak to me English". In this case, the situation is a live one - two people are speaking to each other and the issue is the possibility of using English to communicate instead of another language. The issue is NOT the general ability of a person to speak a certain language. I think this is the reason for the difference but if others have ideas, I would be interested to read them.
September 14, 2019
1
"Speak any language"- without preposition. For example, I speak German.
September 14, 2019
Speak IN + language is literally correct but not natural. It is a typical non-native speaker choice. The "in" is not native when placed immediately before the name of the language. BUT this would be natural for a native speaker. "Can you please speak to me in English? I don't understand other languages." You CANNOT say here: "Can you please speak to me English". In this case, the situation is a live one - two people are speaking to each other and the issue is the possibility of using English to communicate instead of another language. The issue is NOT the general ability of a person to speak a certain language. I think this is the reason for the difference but if others have ideas, I would be interested to read them.
September 14, 2019
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Mehrdad
Language Skills
English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Persian (Farsi), Russian, Spanish
Learning Language
English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Russian, Spanish