話す To Speak

Meaning

Primary

To Speak

Alternative

To Talk

Word Type

transitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means talk so the verb version of this is to talk or to speak.

Reading

はなす

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:

Whenever you begin to speak, 花s (はな) flutter out of your mouth and fill the room. You're just such a good speaker, and you use such beautiful, flowery language that literal 花s fly out of your mouth when you talk. Your breath must smell lovely.

Context

Common Word Combinations

• 話す〜

  話すとき

  when speaking

  話すこと

  speaking, something to talk about

  話すスピード

  talking speed

• 〜を話す

  全てを話す

  to tell all

  何を話す

  What do you want to talk about?

  思いを話す

  to talk about one's thoughts

Context Sentences

道で他人と話すことは、ほぼありません。

I rarely talk to others on the street.

今回のミーティングでは、主に米国の牛肉のことを話しました。

At this meeting, we mainly talked about American beef.

毎日、ディナーの後に電話で友人と話します。

Every day, I talk to a friend over the phone after dinner.

Kanji Composition

1. 話

   わ Talk