Differences between say, speak and talk

Speak is used often when one person addresses a group

Talk suggests that two or more people are having a conversation
Say is used with words; structure: say sth to sb

Examples:
He spoke to the class about the problem.
Can you speak Chinese?
Id like to speak to Mr. Pitt.

They talked for hours about the problem.

Can I talk to Mr. Pitt?

She said nothing all morning.(-> spoke no words!)

As she entered, she said Hello to me.
He said Goodbye and went away.

Related words and expressions

Speech: act of speaking or formal talk given to an audience
Speaker: person who speaks
Talk: conversation or informal speech
Saying: well-known phrase
Be on speaking terms with sb: be on friendly or polite terms, be willing to talk
Talk ones head off: talk to much
Before you could say Jack Robinson: very quickly or suddenly

Say -- Speak -- Talk -- Tell

bold = required

(parentheses) = optional

*mutually exclusive (one or the other may be present, but not both)

INDIRECT
OBJECT

INDIRECT
OBJECT
"____________"
(to someone)
something (about something*) (to someone) (about something*)
say .
that __________
words
(English*)
(to someone) (about something*)
speak .
.
(to someone) (about something)
talk .
(someone*) a story (about something)
(to someone*) .
someone
(about something)
someone (" ______________")
tell
someone (something) (about something) .
someone (that ___________)
someone (to +V )
DIRECT OBJECT