How to use speak in a sentence
40 example sentences · verb, noun
Speak means to communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud. Example: “I was so surprised I couldn't speak.”
Examples of speak by meaning
verbTo communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.
- I was so surprised I couldn't speak.
- You're speaking too fast.
- He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 203
verbTo have a conversation.
- It's been ages since we've spoken.
verbTo communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions.
- He spoke of it in his diary.
- Speak to me only with your eyes.
- Actions speak louder than words.
verbTo deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech.
- This evening I shall speak on the topic of correct English usage.
verbTo be able to communicate in a language.
- He speaks Mandarin fluently.
verbTo be able to communicate in the manner of specialists in a field.
- Even those who did 'speak computer' did so sometimes in a less than fluent way which required a jump to be made from a press-the-right-button stage to having the confidence to experiment.1998, Nigel G Fielding, Raymond M Lee, Computer Analysis and Qualitative Research, page 4
verbTo utter.
- I was so surprised that I couldn't speak a word.
verbTo understand (as though it were a language).
- Sorry, I don't speak idiot.
- So you can program in C. But do you speak C++?
More sentences with speak
- She speaks English, French, and German. English is her first language.From the entry english
- He died a little inside each time she refused to speak to him.From the entry die
- In upstate New York, the Dutch continued to speak their language into the nineteenth century.From the entry dutch
- I can speak Japanese fairly well, but I have no understanding whatsoever of written Japanese.From the entry written
- I was able to speak to a technical support person and get the problem solved.From the entry person
- It was very brave of you to speak out like that.From the entry of
- Although I don't speak Chinese, I managed to talk with the villagers using signs and gestures.From the entry talk
- It doesn’t become a true gentleman to speak in such a manner.From the entry become
- How can you speak with authority about their customs when you have never lived among them?From the entry among
- The children were conditioned to speak up if they had any disagreements.From the entry condition
- It must have taken some guts to speak in front of that audience.From the entry guts
- I didn't speak to many coworkers for the first year on the job.From the entry job
- Please don't speak so loudly: I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning.From the entry delicate
- She's in the camp that speaks as if all vaccines were poisons.From the entry camp
- She is a very forward young lady, not afraid to speak her mind.From the entry forward
- His inability to speak in front of an audience was his weakness.From the entry weakness
- He lived in Mexico, so he is able to speak Spanish fluently.From the entry fluently
- When you speak clearly, people understand you. If you don't mumble, the obverse effect is observed.From the entry obverse
- Keep in mind that he does not hear too well, so you may have to speak loudly.From the entry keep in mind
- I think I speak for the whole group when I say that we're glad you came.From the entry speak for
- Be sure to speak for a seat early, if you plan to attend.From the entry speak for
- If you want to speak French well, you need to practise.From the entry practise
- After their tempestuous argument, they did not speak to each other for weeks.From the entry tempestuous
- The organizers didn’t think to invite even a single POC to speak.From the entry POC
- Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.From the entry have to
- After centuries of British cultural assimilation, a majority of Irish now speak English instead of Irish.From the entry assimilation
- The president plans to speak to a town hall of employees at its headquarters on Monday.From the entry town hall
Meaning of speak
- verb To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.
- verb To have a conversation.
- verb To communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions.
Questions about speak in a sentence
- How do you use speak in a sentence?
- Speak is used as a verb and noun. For example: “I was so surprised I couldn't speak.”
- What is a short sentence with speak?
- “He speaks Mandarin fluently.”
- What does speak mean?
- Speak means to communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: speak (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use speak in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/speak. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.