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This article was originally out about ten years ago and yes, our cats do seem to understand much of what is going on. The male cat seems most interested in communicating, which I appreciated when I had to give some nasty tasting meds. We sat on the bed together and he seemed to understand that I was trying so hard to help him and he did his very best for me. Now we just chat about anything we want. The other cat, not so much, she just doesn't "get" it.
In living with cats for the past 3 decades, I have come to believe that they understand us far better than we understand them. And yes, I've always carried on conversations with them...., say please and thank you to them when required...., and tell them where I'm going & how long I'll be gone whenever I leave the house. And no amount of funny looks from non-cat people are going to make me stop.
Personally, I think whether they understand us is irrelevant unless you need them to perform specific commands for whatever reason.
Who has a pet that they love and never speak to them to tell them how pretty or precious they are or tell them what a good boy or girl they are? The human voice is soothing and comforting to any animal that is bonded to you even if it can't understand a word you are saying. I don't know if my cat understands a few words I tell her or nothing at all. I do know talking to her makes her very happy and makes me very happy as well.
I determined a while ago that probably about 1/3 of what I say to my cat, she has a general idea what I'm talking about.
Though I wonder about all the "silly nothings" I say to her all the time. I'm not really saying anything in particular, but I always say the same things over and over again. For example, I probably couldn't count the number of times I've said, "You're being a cat again!" to her, so clearly she's heard it a zillion time, but does she have an idea what I'm talking about when I say that?
Yep I talk to my cat daily. I'll talk to him when I come home, and I typically say, " Where's my guy? There he is." Or something along those lines.
I'll also talk to him when I am leaving and tell him to be good, or that I'll be back in X amount of time. It sounds silly, but I enjoy talking to him. He seems to enjoy it also, and he talks back at me, in the morning especially.
I would probably be freaked out if I came home to an empty house, I enjoy having someone to talk to, even if it's just my cat.
We talk to our cats and dogs, we have special songs for each one. We try to never say the word unless we really need to in redirecting. So we try to skip "know" as well.
Look up cats blinking. Try it yourself. Sort of a slower blink. When I learned about it indicating trust I tried it. My alpha at that time did a double take like "hey you're speaking my language now".
The alpha cat we'd ask "Where is ....(another cat or dog we weren't seeing)" His response was to look in the direction of whoever we were asking about if he knew where he or she went.
You can talk to them all you want all day long. When you're putting out a meal you can just think out loud...where's that bowl you like, I'm getting it, it's the good stuff, do you want a treat in the middle of it...what's on tv tonight. Anything at all. They seem to enjoy the relationship.
The other thing I do is, when I talk to my cat I talk in whispers. Except on the occasion when I'm really pissed at her because she's being really annoying and asking me for more cat food when she just ate. Then I'll yell at her, "No!" That's the only way she gets the message.
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And yes, I've always carried on conversations with them...., say please and thank you to them when required...., and tell them where I'm going & how long I'll be gone whenever I leave the house. And no amount of funny looks from non-cat people are going to make me stop. 
