โHe cried when she spoke of Oliver.โ
In this sentence, what does the preposition โofโ mean? Did she speak to Oliver or she spoke about Oliver to someone else?
โPeople spoke of their fear as the flood water rose.โ In this sentence,ย I also want to know the meaning of โofโ. Thank you.
Speak of and speak about mean very similar things, but thereโs a slight difference.
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- โShe cried when she spoke of Oliver.โ Yes, it means she was talking about Oliver, but the preposition OF signals that she gave some specific details, not just a general impression.
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When you speak of something, itโs usually describing something definite that you know/witnessed.
- โPeople spoke of their fear as the flood water rose.โ means they described in detail how they felt on that particular occasion.
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When you speak about something, itโs usually a more general discussion.
- โWe spoke about fear.โ means that we shared our opinions and experiences regarding fear in general.
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Letโs see the two uses in one context:
- โAmy Cuddy speaks about body language in her famous TED Talk. She spoke of the importance of first impressions.โย
It means that the general topic of her talk was body language and that she also mentioned one specific thing: the importance of first impressions.
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Thereโs a similar difference you may notice in the use of โthink ofโ vs โthink aboutโ.
- What do you think of Tim? meaning: whatโs your opinion of him?
- I keep thinking about Tim. meaning: heโs on my mind, but itโs not a specific thought/opinion
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*โSpeaking of somethingโ is an expression you can also use to relate to a subject thatโs being discussed:
- Speaking of TED Talks, have you seen the one about global warming?
- Speaking of global warming, did you know that the global temperature has increased by over 0.7 degrees Celsius over the last century?
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Read more:
Difference Between โTalk to meโ and โTalk with meโ!
How to Speak English Fluently? 2 Unusual Tips
How to THINK in English while Speaking