speak, speaks, spoke, speaking, to say, say, says, saying, said
Mnemonic
[shu-] Sherlock Holmes is in [1] front of the [-o] office building, trying 說 to speak to a 兌 merman who is dressed up in a white collared shirt. The 言 words that come out of Sherlock's mouth hit the 兌 merman's ears and bounce off. Sherlock is certainly 說 speaking, but I don't think the 兌 merman understands.