shall we talk or can we talk

[Elain]

HI,

Is any difference between the two sentences.

Thanks,

[dontbother]

Post by Elain
Is any difference between the two sentences.

You don't have any sentences in your post, only in your subject line.
Many here do not read the subject line, so please include everything you
are asking about and saying in the post. Don't refer to what's in the
subject line.

Post by Elain
shall we talk or can we talk

This is not the way to write English sentences. Both are questions, and
both must begin with a capital letter and end with a question mark, thus:

"Shall we talk?"

"Can we talk?"

There is an obvious difference between them. The first usually indicates
that the parties (speaker and listener(s)) know each other and might even
have an appointment to discuss something important to one or both of
them.

The second might suggest the same, but it also might suggest that the
speaker and listener are unknown to each other, and that the speaker is
trying to gain the confidence and trust of the listener in order to cheat
him or her.

Context determines what the speaker's intentions might be and which
structure should be used. "Shall we" is a bit more formal and old-
fashioned in American English than "Can we". I don't know what speakers
of the various varieties of British English will have to say about that,
though.

The bottom line here is that if someone comes up to me and says "Shall we
talk?", I'd expect to know the person, and I'd expect that we have a
serious problem to discuss, maybe one that I already know about or one
that I'm about to find out about momentarily, e.g., my girlfriend is
about to tell me that she's found some other guy she likes better. But if
someone comes up to me and says "Can we talk?", I'd not expect to know
the person, and I'd expect that he or she wants help (i.e., to borrow
money) or to cheat me out of something by telling me some fantastic
story. On the other hand, I might just as easily expect that the speaker
and I have not been on speaking terms for a while and he or she now wants
to re-establish our relationship.

I hope this helps. But it would be much easier to explain similarities
and differences if you provided a specific context in which one of these
sentences might be said.