to talk
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to talk
To express oneself orally in order to communicate with someone or express thoughts. It is the general activity of speaking.
Wir müssen unbedingt miteinander reden, um das Problem zu lösen.
We absolutely need to talk to each other in order to solve the problem.
The verb 'reden' (to talk) is often used with prepositions that describe the conversation more precisely. You talk 'mit' (with) a person (dative), 'über' (about) a topic (accusative), or 'von' (of/about) a topic (dative).
Ich muss dringend mit dir reden.
I urgently need to talk with you.
The verb 'reden' (to talk) is the basis for the noun 'die Rede', which means 'speech' or 'talk'. Someone who can talk well is 'redegewandt' (eloquent).
Der Präsident hielt eine wichtige Rede.
The president gave an important speech.
To indicate the topic of a conversation, the preposition 'über' (about) with the accusative is almost always used. This construction is very common.
Worüber habt ihr die ganze Zeit geredet?
What were you talking about the whole time?
A negative statement about someone is expressed with the fixed structure 'schlecht über jemanden/etwas reden' (to speak badly about someone/something). The adverb 'schlecht' (badly) comes directly before the preposition.
Ich mag es nicht, wenn Leute schlecht über ihre Freunde reden.
I don't like it when people speak badly about their friends.
The phrase 'sich etwas einreden' (to convince oneself of something) uses a reflexive pronoun in the dative. The person who convinces themselves of something is in the dative (mir, dir, sich), and the thing being convinced of is in the accusative.
Rede dir keinen Unsinn ein!
Don't convince yourself of any nonsense!
The idiom 'jemandem ins Gewissen reden' (to appeal to someone's conscience) requires a dative object. This object is the person whose behavior is meant to be influenced.
Ihre Mutter hat ihr wegen der schlechten Noten ins Gewissen geredet.
Her mother appealed to her conscience because of the bad grades.
to say
'sagen' and 'reden' both have to do with spoken communication. 'sagen' usually emphasizes the content: you say a word, a sentence, an opinion, or a piece of information. 'reden' emphasizes more the activity or the conversation itself: you talk for a long time, loudly, or about a topic. Learners confuse the words because both occur in conversations. Remember: if what exactly is being said is important, use 'sagen'. If the important thing is that someone is speaking or having a conversation, use 'reden'.
Nach dem Essen haben wir lange über unsere Reise geredet.
After dinner, we talked for a long time about our trip.
Kannst du mir bitte sagen, wann der Zug fährt?
Can you please tell me when the train leaves?