Meaning & use
short talk
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Meanings
nouncountable
A brief speech or presentation given to an audience, usually lasting only a few minutes.
Grammar: Countable: use 'a short talk' for one, 'short talks' for several.
Patterns
- give a short talk
- a short talk on/about something
- a short talk to someone
She gave a short talk about her trip to Iceland.
Our teacher asked each of us to prepare a short talk for Friday.
He gave a short talk to the new students about the library rules.
nouncountable
A brief serious conversation in which someone gives advice or a warning about behavior.
Grammar: Often used with 'give someone': parents or teachers give a short talk when someone has done something wrong.
Patterns
- give someone a short talk
- have a short talk with someone
My father gave me a short talk about coming home late.
The coach had a short talk with the team after the match.
Word forms
| plural | short talks |
|---|
Common combinations
- give a short talk
- She was asked to give a short talk at the conference.
- a short talk on something
- He prepared a short talk on climate change for his class.
- a short talk about something
- We listened to a short talk about healthy eating.
- prepare a short talk
- I need to prepare a short talk for tomorrow's meeting.
- a short talk to someone
- The principal gave a short talk to the parents.
Synonyms and how they differ
- speech
- A speech is usually longer and more formal, often for a special occasion; a short talk is briefer and more casual.
- presentation
- A presentation often uses slides and visual aids, while a short talk can be given with no materials at all.
- lecture
- A lecture is a long, formal talk given to teach a subject, usually at a university; a short talk is much briefer.
Word family
- talk verb
- To speak to someone; the action behind a talk.
- talker noun
- A person who talks, especially a lot.
Commonly confused: short talk or small talk?
short talk vs small talk
Small talk means light, polite conversation about unimportant topics, not a speech to an audience. 'We made small talk at the party' does not mean anyone gave a talk.
Practice
The professor asked me to _____ a short talk about my research.
Choose one answer.
'Give a short talk' is the natural collocation for delivering a speech. 'Make a talk' is not used, and 'say' and 'tell' need different objects (say something, tell someone something).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “short talk”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.