Reporting verbs

Apart from say and tell, there are other verbs that can introduce sentences in reported speech, as we saw in another blog entry. These reporting verbs are more specific: they tell us more about the intention of the speaker. Let's see an example:
Bart said: "I won't do it again, dad".
This sentence can be reported as:
1. Bart told his dad that he wouldn't do it again.
2. Bart promised his dad not to do it again.
Both reported speech sentences are correct, but the second one is better because the verb "promise" tells us a lot about the intention of the speaker, whereas "tell" is more neutral.

Bart promised his dad not to do it again.

There are many reporting verbs, which are difficult to master even for native speakers, but when used, they undoubtedly give a greater quality to their writing.
In order to make them easier to learn for foreign speakers of English, we are going to classify them in five different groups according to the structure or pattern they follow. Bear in mind that some of them can be found in two or even three groups:

Verb + to-infinitive
"I'll bring some refreshments", she said.
She offered to bring some refreshments.
These are some of the verbs that have this pattern

agree	decide	offer
promise	refuse	threaten
claim	swear	demand

Verb + object + to-infinitive
"Please, stay!", she said.
She begged me to stay. Note that there is no need to repeat the word "please", because its meaning is given by the reporting verb "beg".
Some verbs that follow this pattern are:

advise	ask	convince
encourage	invite	beg
forbid	instruct	order
request	remind	urge
persuade	warn

Verb + V-ing / noun
"I didn't steal the money", he said
He denied stealing the money.
Some verbs that require a gerund are:

admit	confess	acknowledge
advise	deny	recommend
regret	suggest

Verb + Preposition + V-ing / noun
Prepositions are always followed by nouns or gerunds, so it's easy to remember that these verbs with prepositions will be followed by the -ing form. Note that you can have an object either between verb and preposition or right after the preposition.
"Yes, you stole the money" she said.
She accused him of stealing the money.
"I'm sorry I'm late!", she said.
She apologised for being late.

Verb + Prep. + V-ing	Verb + Object + Prep. + V-ing
apologise for	accuse s.o. of
insist on	blame s.o. for
confess to	congratulate s.o. on
complain about	forgive s.o. for
	warn s.o. against / about
	disuade s.o. from

Verb + that + Subject + Verb
This structure is more formal, so it is more commonly used in written English. The verb in the subordinate clause is in the subjunctive, but in British English it is more usual to use should and the infinitive instead of the subjunctive. Examples:
"Let's go shopping", he said.
He suggested that they go shopping.
He suggested that they should go shopping
He suggested going shopping. (This is less formal, as we have already seen, but much more common.)
These are some of the reporting verbs followed by a subordinate clause:

agree	ask	claim
demand	decide	guarantee
promise	propose	recommend
request	swear	suggest

One example of one of the above patterns can be found in the following song by KWS, in which we can hear the expression "I'm begging you to stay", which is another way of saying "Please, don't go". Enjoy!

Exercises:

Choose the correct reporting verb 1

Choose the correct reporting verb 2

Choose the correct reporting verb 3

Say or tell?

These two verbs have similar meanings, but they are not always used in the same way.
The main difference between them is the order of the complements after the verbs:
Say something to someone
          D.O.               I.O.
Tell someone something
          I.O.           D.O.
So, say is usually followed by the direct object, while tell needs an indirect object first.

Image

Say and tell are both used in direct and indirect speech, but we must point out a few things:

• In direct speech, say can introduce statements, exclamations and questions, tell can only introduce statements. Inversion of say and noun subject is possible when it follows the statement. Mary said: “What a beautiful morning!”. “What a beautiful morning!”, said Mary. (Notice the subject-verb inversion). However, there is no inversion with tell.
• In indirect speech, both say and tell can be used in statements, but not in questions. Other verbs such as ask, inquire, wonder or want to know can be used. “Where do you live?” He asked me where I lived.
• In reported commands, requests or advice, we can use tell, but say is not possible.

Image

Charlie said: “Go home, Snoopy”. Charlie told Snoopy to go home.
If you need more information about indirect or reported speech, have a look at this blog entry.

There are expressions in which these two verbs are not interchangeable. These are collocations and they must be learnt by heart:

SAY	TELL
yes	the truth
no	a lie
something	a joke
a prayer	the time
a word	a story
hello	a secret
goodbye	the difference

Image

Idioms with say and tell:

• Kiss and tell: to talk on television, in a newspaper etc. about a sexual relationship you have had with a famous person, especially in order to get a lot of money. The singer's ex-girlfriend was paid £20,000 by a tabloid newspaper to kiss and tell.

• Before you can say Jack Robinson: almost immediately. I’ll be there before you can say Jack Robinson.
• Never say never: anything can happen, all the options are possible. He says he doesn’t want to run for president, but never say never...
• Time will tell: something will become known in the course of time. Who knows what the future will bring? Only time will tell.

In the following song, Justin Bieber says he wants to start a relationship with a girl, but he is a bit reluctant because he doesn’t know if she is going to tell everybody about it. So, he asks her if she is going to kiss and tell.

Finally, here are some exercises to practise what we have learnt today:
Say or tell? Multiple choice.
Say, tell or ask?
Reporting commands

Reported speech

If I had to tell someone what Homer’s friend is saying, I would have two options:

1. I could use the same words: He asked: “Do you want another beer?”.
2. I could convey just the meaning and not the exact words: He asked Homer if he wanted another beer.

In the first example, I would be using direct speech, while in the second example I would be using indirect or reported speech.
As you can see, in direct speech we have to use quotation marks (“ ") to note that we are using the exact words the person said. In indirect speech these inverted commas are not used, and other changes take place. But, what are these changes?

• Tenses. When the reporting verb is in the past, the verbs in the sentence usually change to a “more past” tense, because the speaker uttered the sentence in the past. Sue said: “I have finished my homework” changes to Sue said that she had finished her homework”. However, when the reporting verb is present, the tenses used are the same as those in the speaker’s original words. For example, imagine that you are translating what another person is saying:  “I don’t speak Spanish” changes to She says she doesn’t speak Spanish.

• Pronouns and possessives. It’s easy to understand that if you are reporting what another person says, all the pronouns referring to the first and second person should be changed. Peter asked me: “Do you understand me?”. Peter asked me if I understood him.

• Time and place expressions. The contexts in which a sentence is uttered and then reported can change enormously, so the words related to time and place should be changed accordingly. Imagine a phone conversation between a father and a son who is staying abroad in an exchange programme. The boy says: “I don’t like it here. I want to go home tomorrow”. A few days later, a friend asks the father about the son and he reports  the conversation: He said that he didn’t like it there and he wanted to come home the next day. Notice also that the verb go has changed to come because the context in which the words were spoken has changed.

 

When reporting questions we have to take into account other changes apart from the ones previously stated:

1. The order of the words is different: the auxiliary verb, if used, follows the subject. That is, there is no inversion.
2. Do/ does / did are not used.
3. Question marks (?) are not used either.
4. Yes/no questions are introduced by if or whether. Sue asked: “Do you like spagetti?” changes to Sue asked if I liked spaghetti.
5. Wh-questions keep the interrogative word. Paul asked Mary: “Where will you go on holiday?” changes to Paul asked Mary where she would go on holiday.

Orders, requests and advice are reported by using an infinitive. The teacher said: “Be quiet” changes to The teacher told the students to be quiet.

The verb suggest can either be followed by a gerund or a that-construction: “Let’s go to to cinema tonight”, suggested George can be changed to George suggested going to the cinema that night or George suggested that we (should) go to the cinema that night. Notice that the verb should can be omitted with no change of meaning.

The reporting verbs most widely used are say and tell. The difference in using one or the other is that tell must be followed by the indirect object, that is, the person to whom something is told, whereas say is usually followed by the direct object, that is, the thing that is said. When the indirect object follows say, it must be introduced by the preposition to. Notice the structure:
Say something to someone.
          D.O.         I.O.
Tell someone something.
          I.O.            D.O.
Apart from these, there are many other verbs that can introduce reported speech, such as advise, apologize, explain, command, etc, but they deserve another blog post, as each one of them has its own pattern.

In the following presentation you can find a complete list of the usual changes in reported speech. Then you can do the exercises provided to check how much you have learnt.  

EXERCISES:
How much do you know about the reported speech?
Reported questions
Reported commands and suggestions
Reported speech exercise: all kinds.