Reporting
Verbs
Direct speech and indirect
speech are ways people express how something was said. Direct speech also
called quoted speech is said exactly how the speaker initially spoke the words.
Indirect speech also called reported speech is reported back not using the
exact words as the original speaker.
Reporting
Verbs
Along with “say (said)”,
“tell (told)”, and “ask (asked)”, there are many other verbs that can be used
to report what someone said. These are some of the most commonly used reporting
verbs.
The format for these
commonly-used reporting verbs is “reporting verb + infinitive (to + verb)”.
§ Advise (advised) – to
suggest what should be done in a certain situation
§ Beg (begged) – to ask or
state in a serious or desperate way for something needed or wanted
§ Demand (demanded) – to say
or ask in a strong way
§ Hope (hoped) – to want or
desire something to happen
§ Offer (offered) – to say
you are willing to do something
§ Order (ordered) – to tell
someone what to do in a commanding way
§ Promise (promised) – to
make a strong statement saying that you will or will not do something
§ Swear (swore) – to make a
strong promise to do or not do something
The format for these
commonly used reporting verbs is “reporting verb + that + clause”.
§ Answer (answered) – to give
a reaction to a question
§ Claim (claimed) – to say
that something is true
§ Command (commanded) – to
give an order or show control over people
§ Comment (commented) – to
give an opinion or explanation about something
§ Complain (complained) – to
say that you are not happy about something
§ Consider (considered) – to
think about
§ Declare (declared) – to say
something in a strong and confident manner
§ Demand (demanded) – to say
or ask in a strong way
§ Explain (explained) – to
make something more clear or understandable
§ Guarantee (guaranteed) – to
promise something or to make sure something happens
§ Propose (proposed) – to
suggest an idea or plan
§ Repeat (repeated) – to say
or do again
§ Reply (replied) – to answer
a question or statement
§ Report (reported) – to tell
about something you have seen or done
§ State (stated) – to express
something with words
§ Suggest (suggested) – to
give an idea or advice for people to think about
§ Threaten (threatened) – to
say that you will harm or do something bad to someone
§ Warn (warned) – to tell
someone about a danger or a bad thing that might happen
§ Wish (wished) – to want
something or to want something to happen
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