大家都知道中文里一个“说”字，可以演变出很多种说法，如：道、语、呓、喝、嘀咕、耳语、嘟囔、含混不清、咆哮、聒噪、怒吼等等。英文也不例外。最常见的say也不是万能的，不同语境下表达不一样的“说”的状态，自然要用不同的动词。

1. whisper: to say something very quietly, using your breath rather your full voice（用气息）小声说，相当于中文的“耳语”，但也不局限于对着耳朵说

例：

'Don’t wake the baby.' Jenny whispered. （Jenny小声说：“别吵醒孩子。”）

You don’t have to whisper, no one can hear us. （你不用这么小声，没人听得到我们说话。）

What are you two whispering about over there? （你们俩在那叽叽咕咕说什么呢？）

James leaned over to whisper something to Michael.（James俯身跟Michael耳语了几句。）

'I've missed you.' he whispered in her ear. （“我想你。”他俯在她耳边小声说道。）

Staff were whispering that the company was about to go out of business. （员工都悄悄说公司要倒闭了。）

2. mumble: to say something quietly without pronouncing the words clearly 小声嘟囔，一般用于形容不情愿地道歉、道谢等等

例：

He mumbled his thanks. （他小声嘟囔着不情愿地道谢。）

He bumped into someone and mumbled an apology. （他走路时撞到人，含混地道了个歉。）

3. mutter: to say something quietly, especially when you are annoyed but do not want somebody to hear you complaining 低声（抱怨）说

例：

'This is ridiculous.' he muttered under his breath. （“太过分了！”他低声说道。）

'I never want to come here again.' she muttered to herself. （她低声抱怨说：“我再也不想来这儿了！”）

She muttered something about having to go home early. （因为不得不早回家，她低声抱怨了几句。）

4. murmur: to say something in a soft slow gentle way 柔声说道

例：

She stroked his hair and murmured, 'Don't worry, you'll be fine.'（她抚摸着他的头发，轻声说：“你会好起来的，别怕。”）

Julie turned over and murmured in her sleep.（Julie翻过身，梦呓了几句。）

5. growl: to say something in a low angry voice 小声咆哮，一般属于领导或者有权势的人的说话方式，不是用音量镇住别人，而是以气势取胜。（备注：《哈利·波特》中的伏地魔对手下就经常这么说话，大家看原著时可以留意一下）

例：

'As I was saying,' he growled, 'it needs to be finished today.' （他怒道：“我说过了，今天要做完！”）

6. snarl: to say something in a nasty angry way 咆哮，怒吼

例：

'Get out of my way!' he snarled. （他怒道：“给我滚！”）

7. exclaim: to say something suddenly and loudly 突然大声说

例：

'How beautiful.' she exclaimed. （她突然赞道：“好美啊！”）

8. blurt out: to say something without thinking, especially something embarrassing or secret脱口而出，口不择言，说出（尴尬或秘密的事）

例：

It was partly nervousness that had made him blurt out the question. （一方面他太紧张了，才口不择言说出来。）

9. stammer/stutter: to speak with a lot of pauses and repeated sounds, because you have a speech problem, or you are very nervous or excited 结结巴巴地说（有口吃的毛病或太紧张）

例：

'This ring!' he stammered. 'How, how on earth did it come to me?'（他结结巴巴的说：“这个戒指，怎、怎么会到了我这儿？”）（《魔戒》首部曲第一章）

区分了不同的“说”，在写作时用词才能更丰富，否则一篇文章下来，大声说、小声说、愤怒地说、开心地说……都是say，文章就一点立体感都没有了。