Speak vs. To

Speakverb

(intransitive) To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.

‘I was so surprised I couldn't speak.’; ‘You're speaking too fast.’;

Topreposition

Indicating destination: In the direction of, and arriving at.

‘We are walking to the shop.’;

Speakverb

(intransitive) To have a conversation.

‘It's been ages since we've spoken.’;

Topreposition

Used to indicate purpose.

‘He devoted himself to education.’; ‘They drank to his health.’;

Speakverb

(by extension) To 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.’;

Topreposition

Used to indicate result of action.

‘His face was beaten to a pulp.’;

Speakverb

(intransitive) To deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech.

‘This evening I shall speak on the topic of correct English usage.’;

Topreposition

Used after an adjective to indicate its application.

‘similar to ..., relevant to ..., pertinent to ..., I was nice to him, he was cruel to her, I am used to walking.’;

Speakverb

(transitive) To be able to communicate in a language.

‘He speaks Mandarin fluently.’;

Topreposition

As a.

‘With God to friend (with God as a friend);’; ‘with The Devil to fiend (with the Devil as a foe);’; ‘lambs slaughtered to lake (lambs slaughtered as a sacrifice);’; ‘took her to wife (took her as a wife);’; ‘was sold to slave (was sold as a slave).’;

Speakverb

(transitive) To utter.

‘I was so surprised that I couldn't speak a word.’;

Topreposition

(arithmetic) Used to indicate a ratio or comparison.

‘one to one = 1:1’; ‘ten to one = 10:1.’; ‘I have ten dollars to your four.’;

Speakverb

(transitive) To communicate (some fact or feeling); to bespeak, to indicate.

Topreposition

(arithmetic) Used to indicate that the preceding term is to be raised to the power of the following value; indicates exponentiation.

‘Three squared or three to the second power is nine.’; ‘Three to the power of two is nine.’; ‘Three to the second is nine.’;

Speakverb

To understand (as though it were a language).

‘Sorry, I don't speak idiot.’; ‘So you can program in C. But do you speak C++?’;

Topreposition

Used to indicate the indirect object.

‘I gave the book to him.’;

Speakverb

(intransitive) To produce a sound; to sound.

Topreposition

(time) Preceding.

‘ten to ten = 9:50; We're going to leave at ten to (the hour).’;

Speakverb

To address; to accost; to speak to.

Topreposition

Used to describe what something consists of or contains.

‘Anyone could do this job; there's nothing to it.’; ‘There's a lot of sense to what he says.’;

Speaknoun

language, jargon, or terminology used uniquely in a particular environment or group.

‘Corporate speak; IT speak.’;

Topreposition

At.

‘Stay where you're to and I'll come find you, b'y.’;

Speaknoun

Speach, conversation.

Toadverb

Toward a closed, touching or engaging position.

‘Please push the door to.’;

Speaknoun

(dated) a low class bar, a speakeasy.

Toadverb

(nautical) Into the wind.

Speakverb

To utter words or articulate sounds, as human beings; to express thoughts by words; as, the organs may be so obstructed that a man may not be able to speak.

‘Till at the last spake in this manner.’; ‘Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.’;

Toadverb

misspelling of too

Speakverb

To express opinions; to say; to talk; to converse.

‘That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set, as the tradesmen speak.’; ‘An honest man, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not.’; ‘During the century and a half which followed the Conquest, there is, to speak strictly, no English history.’;

Topreposition

The preposition to primarily indicates approach and arrival, motion made in the direction of a place or thing and attaining it, access; and also, motion or tendency without arrival; movement toward; - opposed to from.

‘Stay with us, go not to Wittenberg.’; ‘So to the sylvan lodgeThey came, that like Pomona's arbor smiled.’; ‘I'll to him again, . . . He'll tell me all his purpose.She stretched her arms to heaven.’;

Speakverb

To utter a speech, discourse, or harangue; to adress a public assembly formally.

‘Many of the nobility made themselves popular by speaking in Parliament against those things which were most grateful to his majesty.’;

Topreposition

Hence, it indicates motion, course, or tendency toward a time, a state or condition, an aim, or anything capable of being regarded as a limit to a tendency, movement, or action; as, he is going to a trade; he is rising to wealth and honor.

Speakverb

To discourse; to make mention; to tell.

‘Lycan speaks of a part of Cæsar's army that came to him from the Leman Lake.’;

Topreposition

In a very general way, and with innumerable varieties of application, to connects transitive verbs with their remoter or indirect object, and adjectives, nouns, and neuter or passive verbs with a following noun which limits their action. Its sphere verges upon that of for, but it contains less the idea of design or appropriation; as, these remarks were addressed to a large audience; let us keep this seat to ourselves; a substance sweet to the taste; an event painful to the mind; duty to God and to our parents; a dislike to spirituous liquor.

‘Marks and points out each man of us to slaughter.’; ‘Whilst they, distilledAlmost to jelly with the act of fear,Stand dumb and speak not to him.’; ‘Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.’; ‘I have a king's oath to the contrary.’; ‘Numbers were crowded to death.’; ‘Fate and the dooming gods are deaf to tears.’; ‘Go, buckle to the law.’;

Speakverb

To give sound; to sound.

‘Make all our trumpets speak.’;

Topreposition

As sign of the infinitive, to had originally the use of last defined, governing the infinitive as a verbal noun, and connecting it as indirect object with a preceding verb or adjective; thus, ready to go, i.e., ready unto going; good to eat, i.e., good for eating; I do my utmost to lead my life pleasantly. But it has come to be the almost constant prefix to the infinitive, even in situations where it has no prepositional meaning, as where the infinitive is direct object or subject; thus, I love to learn, i.e., I love learning; to die for one's country is noble, i.e., the dying for one's country. Where the infinitive denotes the design or purpose, good usage formerly allowed the prefixing of for to the to; as, what went ye out for see? (Matt. xi. 8).

‘Then longen folk to go on pilgrimages,And palmers for to seeken strange stranders.’;

Speakverb

To convey sentiments, ideas, or intelligence as if by utterance; as, features that speak of self-will.

‘Thine eye begins to speak.’;

Topreposition

In many phrases, and in connection with many other words, to has a pregnant meaning, or is used elliptically.

‘We ready are to try our fortunesTo the last man.’; ‘Few of the Esquimaux can count to ten.’;

Speakverb

To utter with the mouth; to pronounce; to utter articulately, as human beings.

‘They sat down with him upn ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him.’;

Topreposition

Effect; end; consequence; as, the prince was flattered to his ruin; he engaged in a war to his cost; violent factions exist to the prejudice of the state.

‘Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.’;

Speakverb

To utter in a word or words; to say; to tell; to declare orally; as, to speak the truth; to speak sense.

Topreposition

Accord; adaptation; as, an occupation to his taste; she has a husband to her mind.

‘He to God's image, she to his was made.’;

Speakverb

To declare; to proclaim; to publish; to make known; to exhibit; to express in any way.

‘It is my father;s musteTo speak your deeds.’; ‘Speaking a still good morrow with her eyes.’; ‘And for the heaven's wide circuit, let it speakThe maker's high magnificence.’; ‘Report speaks you a bonny monk.’;

Topreposition

Comparison; as, three is to nine as nine is to twenty-seven; it is ten to one that you will offend him.

‘All that they did was piety to this.’;

Speakverb

To talk or converse in; to utter or pronounce, as in conversation; as, to speak Latin.

‘And French she spake full fair and fetisely.’;

Topreposition

Addition; union; accumulation.

‘Wisdom he has, and to his wisdom, courage.’;

Speakverb

To address; to accost; to speak to.

‘[He will] thee in hope; he will speak thee fair.’; ‘each village senior paused to scanAnd speak the lovely caravan.’;

Topreposition

Accompaniment; as, she sang to his guitar; they danced to the music of a piano.

‘Anon they moveIn perfect phalanx to the Dorian moodOf flutes and soft recorders.’;

Speakverb

express in speech;

‘She talks a lot of nonsense’; ‘This depressed patient does not verbalize’;

Topreposition

Character; condition of being; purpose subserved or office filled.

‘Made his masters and others . . . to consider him to a little wonder.’; ‘To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow;Creeps in this petty pace from day to day.’; ‘There was great showing both to and fro.’;

Speakverb

exchange thoughts; talk with;

‘We often talk business’; ‘Actions talk louder than words’;

Topreposition

expressing motion in the direction of (a particular location)

‘we're going to a party’; ‘walking down to the shops’; ‘my first visit to Africa’;

Speakverb

use language;

‘the baby talks already’; ‘the prisoner won't speak’; ‘they speak a strange dialect’;

Topreposition

expressing location, typically in relation to a specified point of reference

‘place the cursor to the left of the first word’; ‘forty miles to the south of the site’;

Speakverb

give a speech to;

‘The chairman addressed the board of trustees’;

Topreposition

expressing a point reached at the end of a range or after a period of time

‘a drop in profits from £105 m to around £75 m’; ‘from 1938 to 1945’;

Speakverb

make a characteristic or natural sound;

‘The drums spoke’;

Topreposition

(in telling the time) before (the hour specified)

‘it's five to ten’;

Speakverb

say something in order to convey information or to express a feeling

‘in his agitation he was unable to speak’; ‘she refused to speak about the incident’;

Topreposition

approaching or reaching (a particular condition)

‘Christopher's expression changed from amazement to joy’; ‘she was close to tears’;

Speakverb

have a conversation

‘last time we spoke, you told me you couldn't do the job’; ‘I'll speak to him if he rings up’;

Topreposition

expressing the result of a process or action

‘smashed to smithereens’;

Speakverb

utter (a word, message, etc.)

‘patients copy words spoken by the therapist’;

Topreposition

governing a phrase expressing someone's reaction to something

‘to her astonishment, he smiled’;

Speakverb

communicate in or be able to communicate in (a specified language)

‘my mother spoke Russian’;

Topreposition

identifying the person or thing affected by or receiving something

‘you were terribly unkind to her’; ‘they donated £400 to the hospice’; ‘I am deeply grateful to my parents’;

Speakverb

make a speech or contribute to a debate

‘twenty thousand people attended to hear him speak’;

Topreposition

identifying a particular relationship between one person and another

‘he's economic adviser to the president’; ‘he is married to his cousin Emma’;

Speakverb

express the views or position of (another)

‘he claimed to speak for the majority of local people’;

Topreposition

used in various phrases to indicate how something is related to something else (often followed by a noun without a determiner)

‘made to order’; ‘a prelude to disaster’;

Speakverb

convey one's views or position indirectly

‘speaking through his solicitor, he refused to join the debate’;

Topreposition

indicating a rate of return on something, for example the distance travelled in exchange for fuel used

‘my car only does ten miles to the gallon’;

Speakverb

answer (a question) or address (an issue or problem)

‘we should be disappointed if the report did not speak to the issue of literacy’;

Topreposition

indicating the power (exponent) to which a number is raised

‘ten to the minus thirty-three’;

Speakverb

mention or discuss in speech or writing

‘the books speak of betrayal’;

Topreposition

indicating that two things are attached or linked

‘they are inextricably linked to this island’; ‘he had left his dog tied to a drainpipe’;

Speakverb

talk to in order to reprove or advise

‘she tried to speak to Seb about his drinking’;

Topreposition

concerning or likely to concern (something)

‘a threat to world peace’; ‘a reference to Psalm 22:18’;

Speakverb

talk to in order to give or obtain information

‘he had spoken to the police’;

Topreposition

used to introduce the second element in a comparison

‘the club's nothing to what it once was’;

Speakverb

discuss or comment on formally

‘the Church wants to speak to real issues’;

Topreposition

placed before a debit entry in accounting.

Speakverb

appeal or relate to

‘the story spoke to him directly’;

Toadverb

so as to be closed or nearly closed

‘he pulled the door to behind him’;

Speakverb

(of behaviour, an object, etc.) serve as evidence for something

‘his frame spoke tiredness’; ‘everything in the house spoke of hard times and neglect’;

Speakverb

show (someone or something) to be in a particular state or to possess a certain quality

‘she had seen nothing that spoke him of immoral habits’;

Speakverb

(of a musical instrument or other object) make a sound when functioning

‘insufficient air circulates for the pipes to speak’; ‘the gun spoke again’;

Speakverb

(of a hound) bark.