TALK TO or TALK WITH

TALK TO or TALK WITH ?

Some say there’s NO difference when two people are having a conversation between talk to and talk with. Some just say that talk with is more used in American English and talk to is mainly used in British English.

Said that, you can say “Helen is talking to John” or “Helen is talking with John” – they’re the same!

However, some people on the Internet say there’s a difference. They claim that talk to should be used when it’s only one person speaking, and talk with should be used when you have a two-sided discussion.

What does it mean?

When we talk to someone, we are not always interested in their opinion, we just want to tell them what we think. It’s a one way interaction.

Talk with someone usually means having a discussion with someone. I tell him or her what I think and I also listen to what he or she has to say. It’s a two-way interaction.

In the first case

talk to = one person does most of the talking.

Example: I’ll talk to him tonight = I’ll give him orders to behave himself.

In the second case

talk with = two people speak with each other on an equal basis.

For example: May  I talk with you about a problem I'm having?

So if you consider the following  sentences there’s a slight difference

I talked to my mother and she said I had to stay at home

I talked with my mother  and she said I had to stay at home

In the first sentence she ordered me to stay at home.

In the second sentence we had a real conversation, a discussion, a two-sided conversation.

In conclusion if I say I need to talk to you means I have something to explain to you, to order, to communicate…stop.

If I say I talked with my friends during the party means I had a real conversation/discussion  with them.