speak – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of speak

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to speak ill of
Participle: spoken ill of
Gerund: speaking ill of

Cognates

See the 2 cognates of speak

Indicative

Present

Ispeak ill of
youspeak ill of
he;she;itspeaks ill of
wespeak ill of
youspeak ill of
theyspeak ill of

Perfect

Ihave spoken ill of; spoke ill of
youhave spoken ill of; spoke ill of
he;she;ithas spoken ill of; spoke ill of
wehave spoken ill of; spoke ill of
youhave spoken ill of; spoke ill of
theyhave spoken ill of; spoke ill of

Past

Ispoke ill of
youspoke ill of
he;she;itspoke ill of
wespoke ill of
youspoke ill of
theyspoke ill of

Pluperfect

Ihad spoken ill of; spoke ill of
youhad spoken ill of; spoke ill of
he;she;ithad spoken ill of; spoke ill of
wehad spoken ill of; spoke ill of
youhad spoken ill of; spoke ill of
theyhad spoken ill of; spoke ill of

Future

Iwill speak ill of
youwill speak ill of
he;she;itwill speak ill of
wewill speak ill of
youwill speak ill of
theywill speak ill of

Future Perfect

Iwill have spoken ill of; spoke ill of
youwill have spoken ill of; spoke ill of
he;she;itwill have spoken ill of; spoke ill of
wewill have spoken ill of; spoke ill of
youwill have spoken ill of; spoke ill of
theywill have spoken ill of; spoke ill of

Subjunctive

Present

Ispeak ill of
youspeak ill of
he;she;itspeak ill of
wespeak ill of
youspeak ill of
theyspeak ill of

Perfect

Ihave spoken ill of; spoke ill of
youhave spoken ill of; spoke ill of
he;she;ithave spoken ill of; spoke ill of
wehave spoken ill of; spoke ill of
youhave spoken ill of; spoke ill of
theyhave spoken ill of; spoke ill of

Imperfect

Ispoke ill of
youspoke ill of
he;she;itspoke ill of
wespoke ill of
youspoke ill of
theyspoke ill of

Pluperfect

Ihad spoken ill of; spoke ill of
youhad spoken ill of; spoke ill of
he;she;ithad spoken ill of; spoke ill of
wehad spoken ill of; spoke ill of
youhad spoken ill of; spoke ill of
theyhad spoken ill of; spoke ill of

Conditional

Present

Iwould speak ill of
youwould speak ill of
he;she;itwould speak ill of
wewould speak ill of
youwould speak ill of
theywould speak ill of

Perfect

Iwould have spoken ill of; spoke ill of
youwould have spoken ill of; spoke ill of
he;she;itwould have spoken ill of; spoke ill of
wewould have spoken ill of; spoke ill of
youwould have spoken ill of; spoke ill of
theywould have spoken ill of; spoke ill of

Imperative

youspeak ill of
weLet's speak ill of
youspeak ill of

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Iam speaking ill of
youare speaking ill of
he;she;itis speaking ill of
weare speaking ill of
youare speaking ill of
theyare speaking ill of

Perfect

Ihave been speaking ill of
youhave been speaking ill of
he;she;ithas been speaking ill of
wehave been speaking ill of
youhave been speaking ill of
theyhave been speaking ill of

Past

Iwas speaking ill of
youwere speaking ill of
he;she;itwas speaking ill of
wewere speaking ill of
youwere speaking ill of
theywere speaking ill of

Pluperfect

Ihad been speaking ill of
youhad been speaking ill of
he;she;ithad been speaking ill of
wehad been speaking ill of
youhad been speaking ill of
theyhad been speaking ill of

Future

Iwill be speaking ill of
youwill be speaking ill of
he;she;itwill be speaking ill of
wewill be speaking ill of
youwill be speaking ill of
theywill be speaking ill of

Future Perfect

Iwill have been speaking ill of
youwill have been speaking ill of
he;she;itwill have been speaking ill of
wewill have been speaking ill of
youwill have been speaking ill of
theywill have been speaking ill of

Conditional

Present

Iwould be speaking ill of
youwould be speaking ill of
he;she;itwould be speaking ill of
wewould be speaking ill of
youwould be speaking ill of
theywould be speaking ill of

Perfect

Iwould have been speaking ill of
youwould have been speaking ill of
he;she;itwould have been speaking ill of
wewould have been speaking ill of
youwould have been speaking ill of
theywould have been speaking ill of

Other

Verbs conjugated like 'speak'

bespeak, break, speak, steal,

Verbs similar to 'speak'

peak, spean, spear, speck, spelk, steak, beak, bespeak, break, creak,

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

to communicate to someone else by means of speech
articulate, babble, blab, chat, chatter, converse, discuss, jabber, quethe, say, talk, verbalize, yammer
To talk, particularly informally but persistently, such as chatter.
yak
To talk, especially excessively.
yap
talk
communicate, verbalize, articulate, say, utter, voice, converse, pronounce
lecture
address, recite, deliver, declaim

Additional Information

Phrasal Verbs

Etymology

1. O.E. specan, variant of sprecan "to speak" (class V strong verb; past tense spræc, pp. sprecen), from P.Gmc. *sprekanan (cf. O.S. sprecan, O.Fris. spreka, M.Du. spreken, O.H.G. sprehhan, Ger. sprechen "to speak," O.N. spraki "rumor, report"), cognate with L. spargere "to strew" (speech as a "scattering" of words; see sparse). The -r- began to drop out in Late West Saxon and was gone by mid-12c., perhaps from infl. of Dan. spage "crackle," in a slang sense of "speak" (cf. crack in slang senses having to do with speech, e.g. wisecrack, cracker, all it's cracked up to be). Rare variant forms without -r- also are found in M.Du. (speken) and O.H.G. (spehhan). Not the primary word for "to speak" in O.E. ("Beowulf" prefers maþelian, from mæþel "assembly, council," from root of metan "to meet;" cf. Gk. agoreuo "to speak," originally "speak in the assembly," from agora "assembly").
2. From Middle English speke, speken (“to speak”), from Old English specan (“to speak”). This is usually taken to be an irregular alteration of earlier sprecan, spreocan (“to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan, from Proto-Germanic *sprekaną (“to speak, make a sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *spreg- (“to make a sound, utter, speak”). Finding this proposed loss of r from the stable cluster spr unparalleled, Hill instead sets up a different root, Proto-West Germanic *spekan (“to negotiate”) from Proto-Indo-European *bʰégʾ-e- (“to distribute”) with *s-mobile, which collapsed in meaning with *sprekan ("to speak" < "to crackle, prattle") and so came to be seen as a free variant thereof.
3. Cognates
4. Cognate with Scots speak, speik (“to speak”), Saterland Frisian spreke (“to speak”), West Frisian sprekke (“to speak”), Central Franconian sjprèche (“to speak”), Dutch and Low German spreken (“to speak”), German sprechen (“to speak”), Luxembourgish spriechen (“to speak”), and also with Albanian shpreh (“to express, manifest, show”) through Indo-European. See: Old English 'specan', Proto-Germanic '*sprekaną', Scots 'speak', Frisian, Saterlandic 'spreke', German, old spelling 'sprechen', Luxembourgish 'spriechen'.

Verbs referencing "speak"

German, old spelling sprechen, Low Saxon spreken, Sranan piki, Faroese spikka, Luxembourgish spriechen, Finnish with old forms spiikata, Indonesian sepik.

Sample Sentences

  • For convenience sake, we have said, hitherto, two _gentlemen_. One of the parties, however, when critically examined, did not seem, strictly speaking, to come under the species. He was a short, thick-set man, with coarse, commonplace features, and that swaggering air of pretension which marks a low man who is trying to elbow his way upward in the [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] which is still before me, looking at the same time round the walls, ‘Ha ! the breakfast-room, steward—eh ? ’ We all foresaw what the answer must be: we knew the agony he suffered. He had often spoken of the saloon; had taken in and lived upon the pictorial idea; had usually given us to understand, at home, that to form a just conception of it, it would be necessary to multiply the size [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] very depths of dulness and low spirits. A speck in the mist, at last! That’s something. It is the boat we wait for ! That’s more to the purpose. The captain appears on the paddle-box with his speaking trumpet; the officers take their stations; all hands are on the alert; the flagging hopes of the passengers revive; the cooks pause in their savoury work, and look out with faces full of interest. [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • “ I tell you, Haley, this must not be spoken of; I say no, and I mean no, ” said Shelby, decidedly. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] She looked nervously out on the verandah, where the boy, tired of the grave conversation, had retired, and where he was riding triumphantly up and down on Mr. Shelby's walking-stick. She would have spoken to tell her husband her fears, but checked herself. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • “ Tom Lincon says, ” said George, speaking with his mouth full, “ that their Jinny is a better cook than you. ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] during twelve months more, and brings her little history down to the end of last year. It is very remarkable, that as we dream in words, and carry on imaginary conversations, in which we speak both for ourselves and for the shadows who appear to us in those visions of the night, so she, having no words, uses her finger alphabet in her sleep. And it has been ascertained that when her [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • “ Hush, Harry, ” she said; “ mustn't speak loud, or they will hear us. A wicked man was coming to take little Harry away from his mother, and carry him ’ way off in the dark; but mother won't let him—she's going to put on her little boy's [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] child, as, perfectly quiet with vague terror, he clung round her neck. ~~~ Old Bruno, a great Newfoundland, who slept at the end of the porch, rose, with a low growl, as she came near. She gently spoke his name, and the animal, an old pet and playmate of hers, instantly, wagging his tail, prepared to follow her, though apparently revolving much, in this simple dog's head, what such an indiscreet [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] with this mild appeal. All within-doors is very plain and simple, as it ought to be, but arranged with a view to peace and comfort. It costs no more than any other plan of arrangement, but it speaks an amount of consideration for those who are reduced to seek a shelter there, which puts them at once upon their gratitude and good behaviour. Instead of being parcelled out in great, long, [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • So I checked your phone. And there he was. Cordell. I spoke in your voice, told him the baby was his. (A Neglected Wife)
  • [ exhales sharply ] [ sighs heavily ] [ speaking indistinctly ] (Tacoma)
  • I 've spoken with Kees. If it's a serious heart attack, (iHostage)
  • These sockets saw. And these jaws spoke and swallowed. (28 Years Later)
  • I guess I 'm just speaking for myself here. (Miss You, Love You)