Question posted by Mary Anne Santos Fernandez on my Facebook page, January 8, 2016:
Hello sir. Are “talk with” and “talk to” interchangeable? Thank you.
My reply to Mary Anne Fernandez:
Nowadays, “talk with” and “talk to” are used interchangeably, so it would be foolhardy to argue with anyone about which of the usage is correct. Strictly speaking though, “talk with” denotes a situation where two people speak with each other interactively, as in “Ana and Greg talked with each other for hours,” while “talk to” denotes a situation where one person does most of the talking, as when a guest speaker talks to an audience until the end of the speech. This distinction between “talk with” and “talk to” has largely been lost in modern usage, but you can get better marks from your grammar teacher or impress a prospective employer if you can distinguish and duly apply the difference between them in your writing and conversations.
And yes, it’s correct to say “Talk with him personally.” Adding the adverb “personally” indicates a face-to-face conversation as opposed to, say, a phone or Skype conversation where the talkers are separated by a wide expanse of space.
