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How to use "talk to" and "talk with"?

Many English learners and students of mine, especially in Maputo province where I currently live, confuse talk to for talk with (which is mostly because of the inability to distinguish the differences between the two. Given that this is commonly mistaken by some English-as-a-Second-language speakers, it does not generally mean that it must be related to hypercorrection linguistics. This kind of slight unconscious mistake is just a simple grammar lesson that, by far, seems unimportant, but requires our concentration and should also be hammer homed. The differences between the two phrasal verbs are slightly lilliputians, therefore the mistake remains sub-concious. Here is what I think about them:
TO TALK TO 


  • To talk to can mean one-sided conversation, i.e, it means that the conversation is likely going to be held mostly by one part/side of the conversationalists during a certain reprimand.


  1. I would like to talk to the last student about something I have noted during his presentation, because he's said some off-topic details, Dr. Peterson.
  2. I’ve been talking to all my students the difference between the prepositions "on" and "onto", but it seems to be harder to make them understand this topic at once.

TO TALK WITH


  • To talk with literally also means holding a conversation. However, it is more likely to be used for conversation among peers (people of the same team with similar interest) or friends.
  1. Greg and Chris are always talk with their volleyball group about professional strategies that can somehow or other make their own team stronger.
  2. Martin is talking with his classmates about how gorgeous Annie's birthday party was.

All in all, to talk with means conversation among equals. Whereas, to talk to could also refer to conversation involving a power differential (or where the speaking power is mostly conveyed by a speaker.



Warmest regards,
PBC—Department of Scientific English Language
Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Pedro Benny C.

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