Are You Using the Wrong Verbs for Speaking？ 16 C1 English Verbs

Hi there, this is Harry and welcome back to my Advanced English Lessons, where I try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language. So, in this particular lesson, we're going to look at advanced English speaking verbs, the sort of verbs that we use to describe how somebody speaks, or how we hear them speaking, or the sound they make. So, lots of them are very strange and may be a little bit unusual for you, but I'll explain them to you and I'll give you some examples. So, we're going to talk, first of all, when people are talking loudly. So, when they're talking loudly, when they're talking like that, talking loudly. So, the sort of verbs we use for that would be yell, bark, screech and scream. Okay, so when somebody yells, they might yell because the person cannot hear them, because the room is very crowded. So, they see somebody across the room and they call the name, but they don't answer because they don't hear them. So, they speak a little louder and then they yell, hello. So, they scream the name. And so, if you see somebody the other side of the park, you yell to get their attention. So, you raise your voice very loudly to yell. Bark like a dog. Dogs bark. We use that all the time, but people can bark. They can bark. Usually, they bark orders. So, somebody who feels they're very superior or senior to everybody else, they will do this, do that, get this, get that. The sort of noises and sounds you'd hear in a very busy restaurant, where the head waiter or the chef is telling their other chefs and cooks to take the water off, boil this, do that. So, there's no please and do, because they don't have time. So, they bark out orders, just like a dog. Bark, to bark orders. Screech. The screech is usually a high-pitched voice. A screech, yeah. Now, somebody might screech if they get a shock. They can also scream. So, screech and scream can be very, very similar. So, when somebody gets a fright or shock, then they will screech. Whatever it might be. Or, if you're in one of these theme parks and you're on the roller coaster, or you're standing beside the roller coaster, then, of course, all you will hear are people screaming and screeching out there. Really, they say, enjoying themselves, I really don't like roller coasters and I avoid them at all costs. But people who go on them say, oh, it's great, great. And they spend the time, have their hands up in the air, and they screech and scream at the top of their voice. Or, if you go to a pop concert, then you'll hear people screaming out the music, or screaming out the songs. They probably can't sing any better than you or I, but they will scream along to their favourite number. And when the music is very, very loud, they have to scream to get somebody's attention. If you go into a busy bar where there's lots of people talking, maybe there's some live music in the bar that evening, and you go up to the bartender and you ask for a beer, and he says, what? And you say, beer, and what? So, you end up screaming or screeching, I'll have a beer, please. So, you screech or scream to get his attention, to give him your order. Then, the opposite, then, is to speak quietly. And the type of verbs we use about speaking quietly would be whisper. We can also use mutter. Okay, now, whisper is a very, very, very. So, when somebody whispers, usually they whisper because they don't want somebody else to hear. Okay, so they want to keep it a secret. Or perhaps they're in a place where they should speak quietly, like church or a library. So, they whisper, they speak very low, so that they don't break the rules. You know, because when if you go into a library, the first thing you see in the wall is silence. So, people are asked not to speak. Yeah, so you have to speak very, very, very quietly. So, a whisper. Okay, I could only hear a whisper. But sometimes children play games and they whisper with each other to try and see can the other person hear. So, it's with a very low voice. But when somebody mutters, it's usually just a habit they have. And, you know, when you were young, I'm sure your mother or father, somebody told you, don't mutter, speak clearly. So, when we mutter, we're inaudible. People cannot hear what we're saying. Or somebody who puts their hand up to their mouth like this, it's very hard to hear what they are saying. They are muttering behind their hand and you can't understand what they're trying to say. So, the order or instruction from the teacher or the parents will be, please don't mutter. Don't mutter behind your hand. Take your hands down from your face. Don't mutter under your breath, is an expression they would use. Meaning speak clearly so that everybody can understand exactly what you are saying. Okay, so speaking quietly. Whisper or mutter. Now, if we talk about verbs connected with speaking negatively. Okay, let's look at a few of those. We can rant about something. Okay, so when we rant, we complain and complain and complain. So, he's been ranting on about the service in that restaurant he went to for days. I wish he would just go and complain. Yeah, or he's having another rant. Meaning he's in a mood again and he's going on complaining about the weather, complaining about the service, complaining about the internet. Whatever it is, he has something to rant about. So, it's complaining, usually in a loud manner that everybody can hear. There are two words now that have very similar meanings. Ramble and babble. Okay, now we are talking about people who are speaking. Because ramble, you can also go for a ramble, which is to go for a walk. But when we talk about speaking, to ramble on or to babble on means to really talk without any end or without any structure or without any real sense as to where it is going to go and when will it stop and you don't stick to the point. So, oh, he rambles on so long. He's been babbling on about that for ages. So, to babble or ramble, very, very similar words. Okay, so it can, to babble might mean to talk, not rapidly, but continuously in perhaps a foolish way or some way that's incomprehensible. And to ramble will be to be talking at length in a confused way. So, they're both words that we would use where people might not understand exactly what you're saying and you don't stick to the point. There's some little differences, but most of the time when somebody rambles or babbles, it really means exactly the same. And the same way we talk about to grumble and moan. Okay, so again, these are two words that more or less have the same meaning. A few little differences. You can moan in your sleep when nobody knows what you're trying to say, but you can moan in your sleep. You can moan in a low cry because you walked into the door and hurt your toe or you banged your head on the side of the cooker, as I do quite a lot. So, you give out a short, sharp little cry. Oh, and that's a little bit of a moan. But when you grumble, again, it's a low sound, but it's usually over a longer period of time. For example, if you're very hungry, your stomach will talk to you. It will grumble. It'll say, oh, who's making that noise? Oh, I think I'm hungry. It's time I had something to eat. Okay, so there's a little difference then between moan and grumble. But when people are moaning or grumbling, they're usually complaining about something and that's where the common link between the two words. When you moan or grumble, it's usually a complaint about something. He's always grumbling about something. He's never happy. He's always moaning about something. He's never happy. If it's not the service, it's the cost. If it's not the cost, it's the service. It's how long is it going to take? When are we going to get there? Moaning, grumbling, grumbling, moaning. So, they're very, very similar. We can also growl. Now, we use before bark when somebody barks, orders, and that's to do with the dog. The dog barks. Dogs also growl, but a person can growl. So, they can growl or speak in an aggressive way. What do you want? What did you do that for? When will you be back? So, that's a bit of a growl. It's not pleasant and it's not a way you'd like somebody to talk to you because hopefully you wouldn't like to talk to somebody like that. So, when somebody is growling, he's usually in a bad mood. Perhaps it's a permanent bad mood, but it's a way they have of talking and speaking to other people. Okay, so they're all quite negative ways of speaking. Now, there's a nice positive way when somebody speaks. They can rave about something. So, we mentioned rant. So, we can rant and rave, but often rave is more positive than rant. Rant is to complain about something. Ah, he's always ranting on about something, as I said. But you can rave about something. You go on and on, but it's more in a positive way. He's been raving about that hotel since he got back from his holiday. Honestly, you'd think it was the only hotel in the world. You know, this was great. That was great. I'm sure not everything was that good, but you know what he's like. When he does something and he likes it, he likes other people to hear about it. So, he's been raving about it for a long, long time. So, much more positive than ranting. Now, when people speak unclearly, we have some verbs that we use for that, and these would be to mumble or stutter. Okay, so mumble is when somebody sort of falls over their words and it's not very, very clear. Well, I thought, what was that? Stop mumbling. So, again, teachers and parents will often ask the kids and the students not to mumble. If you're going to go for a verbal test or an examination where you have to speak rather than to write, then you have to speak very, very clearly. The inspector or the examiner must hear everything you say. So, there's no point mumbling the answer. You have to speak clearly so the person can understand. Clear diction. Pronounce your words properly. Okay, make sure you stress the words in the right place, the right syllable. Don't mumble. Don't mumble behind your hand. Don't mumble under your breath. Speak out clearly. So, mumbling is very unclear, very unsure as to what you're trying to say. And then the stutter. Now, a stutter can be, of course, a medical condition. And if somebody has a stutter, then it's very difficult for them to express themselves. But sometimes we just stutter when we are nervous or we haven't planned what we want to say. And therefore, we stutter over words. Then we stutter. And it's not very audible. It's certainly very unclear. And it's not so good to listen to because you're trying to guess what the person is trying to say. And it makes it very, very difficult. But of course, as I said, some people unfortunately have a stutter as a permanent issue. And it's very sad for them. But there are ways in which they can work on it to improve. So, something that is a little bit unclear can be a stutter or a mumble. Now, there's one last verb that we want to use here. And it's drawl. And it's spelled D-R-A-W-L. Now, to drawl, they often refer to the Texan drawl. So, if you listen to somebody from the deep south of Texas in America, How are you going there, folks? And how are you today? Yeah. So, that's a drawl. Now, a drawl is usually an overstressing, particularly of the vowel sounds. Oh, where do you think you're going, sonny? So, that is a real drawl. Yeah. So, people speak with a drawl. You could be sitting there forever trying to get to the end of the sentence. And it can be very confusing, very annoying. And of course, very, very frustrating for the person who has to listen. So, an American drawl. But it doesn't necessarily have to be an American. For all my American listeners, I apologise for that. But it doesn't necessarily have to be a drawl. Anybody can drawl where they focus too much on the vowels and the sound. Very slow and a lazy way of talking. Yeah. Okay. That would be a drawl. Okay. So, we're talking there about different verbs in connection with speaking and talking. So, we said you can speak out loud or speak loudly. To yell, to bark, to screech and to scream. You can speak very quietly. To whisper or to mumble. You can speak very negatively. To rant, to ramble, to babble, babble on, grumble, moan, growl. And then there's a more positive way to rave about something. But it depends how you speak. It could be both positive and negative. And then finally, if you're not speaking so clearly, then the sort of verbs that we would use would be like stutter and mumble. And then finally, the American drawl. Okay. To drawl. To speak in a lazy, lazy way. Okay. So, they're all advanced ways or advanced verbs and ways of speaking in English. I hope you enjoyed those. You can practice them and practice your American drawl if you really wish to. I always enjoy it when you listen and watch. I'm very grateful. And if you need anything, you can write to me. And as always, join me again soon. Harry, signing off.