Reported speech

Reporting verbs

In the page about reported speech, we talked about how to change direct speech ("I love coffee") into reported speech (Johnna said that she loved coffee), using the  reporting verbs 'say', 'tell' and 'ask'. However, we can also use many other verbs to report what someone said, like 'promise', 'warn', 'advise' and 'recommend'.

Some of these verbs look a bit more complicated to use than 'say' and 'tell', but it's just a question of getting to know the verb patterns (or verb structures).

(As I'm sure you know, we can often choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets () to show that it's optional. The meaning is exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)

1: SAY

Let's look first at the verbs we've already talked about. The basic verb pattern for using 'say' for reported speech is:

say + (that) + clause

  • She said (that) she had already eaten.

(The direct speech for this is "I've already eaten".)

2: TELL

On the other hand, with 'tell' we need to use an object, a person who we tell the information to.
tell + someone + (that) + clause

  • I told John (that) I had seen the new film.

(The direct speech for this is "I've seen the new film".)

When we are reporting orders, we can also use another pattern with 'tell':

tell + someone + to + infinitive

  • She told the children to go to bed.

3: ASK

We use 'ask' to report questions or requests. For questions we use the pattern:

ask + someone + if / question word + clause

  • I asked my boss if I could leave early.
  • She asked them where the station was.

For requests we use the pattern:

ask + someone + to + infinitive

  • I asked Lucy to pass me the salt.

(Remember, the first two examples with 'ask' are no longer real questions, so we use the normal sentence word order. We don't use inversion. We say 'she asked them where the station was', NOT 'she asked them where was the station'. You can read more about this on the lessons about indirect questions and  reported speech.)

Other reporting verbs follow a variety of patterns. There aren't any rules about which verbs follow which patterns. You need to learn each one.

4: ADVISE*

(= Give someone advice. Notice the different spelling for the verb and the noun.)

Advise + someone + to + infinitive

  • She advised him to see a doctor.

Advise + (that) + clause

  • The staff advise that you carry water at all times.

Advise + against + verb-ing

  • I'd advise against leaving early.

5: AGREE

Agree + to + infinitive

  • We agreed to meet the following day.

Agree + (that) + clause

  • I agreed that the children could do their homework later.

6: APOLOGISE

Apologise + (to + someone) + for + verb-ing

  • They apologised to us for being late.
  • She apologised for forgetting the book.

Apologise (+ to + someone) + for + noun

  • She apologised for the delay.

7: DECIDE

Decide + to + infinitive

  • They decided to go to the cinema.

Decide + (that) + clause

  • They decided that they would go to the cinema.

8: ENCOURAGE

Encourage + someone + to + infinitive

  • She encouraged him to take the exam again.
  • The teacher encouraged the students to ask questions.

9: EXPLAIN

Explain + (that) + clause

  • The teacher explained that the course was finished.

Explain + noun + to + someone

  • She explained the grammar to the students.

NOT: She explained me the grammar.

Explain + question word + to + infinitive

  • They explained how to buy a train ticket on the internet.
  • John explained where to find the restaurant.

Explain + question word + clause

  • We explained what the exams would cover.

10: INSIST*

Insist + on + verb-ing

  • He insisted on paying.

Insist + (that) + clause

  • He insisted that we sit down.

11: PROMISE

Promise + to + infinitive

  • He promised to arrive early.

Promise + (someone) + (that) + clause

  • I promised him that I wouldn't do it again.

12: RECOMMEND*

Recommend + verb-ing

  • I recommend visiting the British Museum while you're in London.

Recommend + (that) + clause

  • I recommend that you visit the British Museum

13: REMIND

Remind + someone + to + infinitive

  • She reminded him to take his keys.

Remind + someone + (that) + clause

  • They reminded me that there is a party tonight.

14: SUGGEST*

Suggest + verb-ing

  • I suggest leaving soon

Suggest + (that) + clause

  • I suggest that you come as soon as you can.

NOT: I suggest him to come.

15: WARN

Warn + someone + (not) + to + infinitive

  • I warned them not to go in the water.

Warn + someone + about + something

  • She warned us about the dangerous roads.

Negatives
To make the verbs that we have reported negative, we need to look at the verb pattern:

  • When there's a clause, we make the negative in the usual way: She said that she didn't like ice cream.
  • When there's 'to + infinitive', we generally put 'not' before 'to': He promised not to do it again.
  • When there's 'verb-ing', we generally put 'not' in front of it: I advise not taking the bus.

* Advanced Point
In formal English, some verbs that are followed by '(that) + clause' use the infinitive instead of a present tense verb. Some people suggest that this is a kind of subjunctive in English. You only need to worry about this in very formal writing.

Mostly, this doesn't make a difference, because the present simple form in English is often the same as the infinitive form. But when the subject is 'he', 'she' or 'it' or when the verb is 'be', we can see it clearly.

  • I advise that he go to bed early. (Normally we'd expect: I advise that he goes to bed early.)
  • I insist that she come now. (Normally we'd expect: I insist that she comes now.)
  • They suggested that the cats be put in the garden for the night. (Normally we'd expect: They suggested that the cats are put in the garden for the night.)

Some reporting verbs may appear in more than one of the following groups because they can be used in several ways.

VERBS FOLLOWED BY "IF" OR "WHETHER"
ask
know
remember
say
see
VERBS FOLLOWED BY A "THAT"
add
admit
agree
announce
answer
argue
boast
claim
comment
complain
confirm
consider
deny
doubt
estimate
explain
fear
feel
insist
mention
observe
persuade
propose
remark
remember
repeat
reply
report
reveal
say
state
suggest
suppose
tell
think
understand
warn
VERBS FOLLOWED BY EITHER "THAT" OR AN INFINITIVE WITH "TO"
decide
expect
guarantee
hope
promise
swear
threaten
VERBS FOLLOWED BY A "THAT" CLAUSE CONTAINING SHOULD, WHICH MAY BE OMITTED, LEAVING A SUBJECT + ZERO-INFINITIVE
advise
beg
demand
insist
prefer
propose
recommend
request
suggest
VERBS FOLLOWED BY A CLAUSE STARTING WITH A QUESTION WORD
decide
describe
discover
discuss
explain
forget
guess
imagine
know
learn
realise
remember
reveal
say
see
suggest
teach
tell
think
understand
wonder
VERBS FOLLOWED BY OBJECT + INFINITIVE WITH "TO"
advise
ask
beg
command
forbid
instruct
invite
teach
tell
warn
Reported questions (Prev Lesson)
(Next Lesson) Reporting orders and requests
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