Indicating that you are reporting: reporting verbs

Indicating that you are reporting: reporting verbs

5 You indicate that you are quoting or reporting what someone has said or thought by using a reporting verb. Every reporting clause contains a reporting verb.

'I don't see what you are getting at,' Jeremy said.

He looked old, Harold thought and sick.

They were complaining that Canton was hot and noisy.

basic reporting verbs 6 You use 'say' when you are simply reporting what someone said and do not want to add any more information about what you are reporting.

She said that she didn't want to know.

You use 'ask' when you are reporting a question.

'How's it all going?' Derek asked.

showing the purpose of speaking 7 Some reporting verbs such as 'answer', 'complain', and 'explain' tell you what purpose an utterance was intended to serve. For example, 'answer' tells you what a statement was intended as an answer, and 'complain' tells you that a statement was intended as a complaint.

He answered that the price would be three pounds.

'He never told me, sir,' Watson complained.

'I have not forgotten, monsieur,' replied the Belgian quietly.

I suggested that it was time to leave.

Some reporting verbs used in quote structures show the manner of speaking. See paragraph 1

Here is a list of reporting verbs which can be used to report what people say:

WARNING 8 Note that the verbs 'address', 'converse', 'lecture', 'speak', and 'talk', although they mean 'to say something', cannot be used as reporting verbs.

verbs of thinking and knowing 9 Many reporting verbs are used to refer to people's thoughts, rather than to what they say. Reporting verbs can be used to refer to many different kinds of thought, including beliefs, wishes, hopes, intentions, and decisions. They can also be used to refer to acts of remembering or forgetting.

We both knew that the town was cut off.

'I'll go to him in a minute,' she thought.

I had always believed that one day I would see him again.

Here is a list of reporting verbs which can be used to report people's thoughts:

10 A third group of reporting verbs refer to learning and perceiving facts.

I have since learned that the writer of the letter is now dead.

Then she saw that he was sleeping.

Here is a list of reporting verbs which refer to learning and perceiving facts:

11 Some of the verbs in the above lists, such as 'tell' and 'promise', must be or can be followed by an object indicating who the hearer is. See paragraphs 71 to 72.

Note that some verbs appear in more than one list, because they have more than one meaning.

12 When you use a quote structure or a report structure, you can give more information about the way that something is said by putting an adverb or a prepositional phrase after the reporting verb.

'I've got the key!' he announced triumphantly.

His secretary explained patiently that this was the only time he could spare from his busy schedule.

He replied with disgust, 'Most of them were too young.'

You can indicate how the thing that is said fits into the conversation by using a prepositional phrase.

'They moved her to Rose Cottage,' Emily shouted in explanation.

13 With a small number of reporting verbs, the negative is often expressed in the reporting clause rather than in the reported clause. 'I don't think Mary is at home' means the same as 'I think Mary is not at home', and 'She doesn't want to see him' means 'She wants not to see him'.

I do not think she suspects me.

She didn't believe she would ever see him again.

He didn't want to go.

We don't intend to put him on trial.

Here is a list of reporting verbs which are often used with a negative in this way: