Differences

Hello.
I am a student of the Japanese language, and this has always interested me - I see there are little nuances between these words, like:

話す　−　語る
習う　−　学ぶ
牛乳　−　ミルク

Could anyone explain? I guess they cannot be used interchangeably, so when to use which?

Are there any more of the like? :)

Thanks a lot.

話す　−　more like to speak
語る more like to tell/recite.
習う　−　to learn
学ぶ - to study or be taking lessons in something
牛乳　−　traditional japanese word for milk, used for the drink itself
ミルク - Used for stuff like "milk tea" to explain foreign treats.

Bieres,

Just to add that 牛乳 is the white stuff that actually comes from cows, whereas ミルク refers to baby formula or artificial creamer.

話す-英語(えいご English)で話す。
電話(でんわ phone)で話す。
語る-体験(たいけん experience)を語る。
習う-料理(りょうり cooking)やピアノ(piano)を習う。
柔道(じゅうどう judo)を習う。
学ぶ-大学(だいがく college)で医学(いがく medicine)を学ぶ。

ミルク-ミルクチョコレート（milkchocolate）

Relating to ''learn/study Japanese'', 学ぶ is the most general word, however, both 勉強する and　習う can be used as well.


日本語を勉強する。
study Japanese
(to prepare for exam. intensively)


日本語を習う。learn Japanese（with the help of a tuitor or by listening to a radio program ）

牛-cow
乳-milk

牛乳literally means cow's milk.

Thank you all for your replies.

Since I have opened this thread I'll post more of my questions here and ask for a translation. They are mostly SOS questions I would like to use in class. Thank you for reading.

1) What is the difference between A and B?

2) Are there one, two or three books? (I know when you are alternating between two you can say X desuka, Y desuka? But what about three or more?)

3) What is the correct verb form?

4) I'm not sure how to say it.

1) What is the difference between A and B?
- A to B wa dou chigaimasu ka? (Literally, "How do A and B differ?")

2) Are there one, two or three books? (I know when you are alternating between two you can say X desuka, Y desuka? But what about three or more?)
- Hon wa, issatsu, nisatsu, soretomo sansatsu arimasu ka? (Somewhat artificial sounding, but this would be how you would have to phrase it if you have some guesses about the number of books so you want to mention all your ideas.)

3) What is the correct verb form?
- Doushi no tadashii katachi wa nan desu ka? (What would be the right verb form?)
- Koko dewa, nani-kei no doushi wo tsukattara ii desu ka? (Here, what form of verb should I use?)
- Koko dewa, doushi wo nani-kei ni shitara ii desu ka? (Here, into what form should I turn the verb?)

4) I'm not sure how to say it.
- Dou ittara ii no ka wakarimasen. (I don't know how to say it.)

3) What is the correct verb form?

When I learnt Korean language which is grammatically very close to Japanese, I found it hard to find verbs in dictionaries because I do not know the "correct verb".

If you want to ask your teacher the simple form of verb as in the dictionary like "taberu"" "kau" "nomu" "utau", you can say:

"kono doushi no shuushi-kei wa nan desuka?"
この動詞の終止形は何ですか。

I suppose average people hardly respond to this question、because we do not use such a word as "shuushi-kei" in our daily life.

"kono doushi no shuushi-kei wa nan desuka?"
この動詞の終止形は何ですか。

Just to add to that - actually, in "teaching Japanese as a foreign language," particularly when using the English language as the language for providing explanation, we do not use this name to refer to that form of the verb to allow you to look them up in a dictionary. We call it "dictionary form" or "ru-form" or "u-form." In similar ways, we use the word "te-form" to refer to "renyoukei."

So you could also say "jisho-kei," "ru-kei," and the teacher as well as other students would know.