Collins Cobuild English Grammar (142 page)

If the original listener reports what was said, he or she could say,
He said he saw her in the High Street
.
I
becomes
he
, because the statement is reported from the point of view of a third person, not from the point of view of the original speaker.

If the original listener reports the statement to Jenny,
her
becomes
you
:
He said he saw you in the High Street
.

The original listener might report the statement to the original speaker. This time,
I
has to change to
you
:
You said you saw her in the High Street
.

You
’re crazy.
I told him
he
was crazy.

Possessive determiners and pronouns change in the same way as personal pronouns in order to keep the same reference. So the following sentences could all report the same question:
She asked if he was my brother
,
She asked if you were my brother
,
I asked if he was her brother
. The original question might have been expressed as
Is he your brother
?

referring to time

7.62
    When reporting, you may need to change
time adverbials
such as
today
,
yesterday
, or
next week
.

For example, if someone called Jill says
I will come tomorrow
, you could report this statement the following day as
Jill said she would come today
. At a later time, you could report the same statement as
Jill said she would come the next day
or
Jill said she would come the following day
.

We decided to leave the city
the next day
.
I was afraid people might think I’d been asleep during
the previous twenty-four hours
.

referring to places

7.63
    You may need to change words that relate to position or place.

For example, if you are talking to a man about a restaurant, he might say
I go there every day
. If you report his statement while you are actually in the restaurant, you could say
He said he comes here every day
.

Using reporting verbs to perform an action

7.64
    Reporting verbs are often used when people explicitly say what function their statement is performing. They do this using
I
and the present simple of a verb such as
admit
or
promise
that refers to something that is done with words. For example, instead of saying
I’ll be there
you could say
I promise I’ll be there
, which makes the statement stronger.

I suggest
we draw up a document.
I’ll be back at one,
I promise
.
I was somewhat shocked,
I admit
, by these events.

The following verbs can be used in this way:

acknowledge

admit

assure

claim

concede

contend

demand

deny

guarantee

maintain

pledge

predict

promise

prophesy

propose

say

submit

suggest

swear

tell

vow

warn

7.65
    Some other verbs that refer to doing something with words are used without a
that
-clause after them. When used without a
that
-clause, the use of the present simple with
I
performs the function of a statement in itself, rather than commenting on another statement.

I apologize for any delay.
I congratulate you with all my heart.
I forgive you.

The following verbs are commonly used in this way:

absolve

accept

accuse

advise

agree

apologize

authorize

baptize

challenge

confess

congratulate

consent

declare

dedicate

defy

forbid

forgive

name

nominate

object

order

pronounce

protest

refuse

renounce

resign

second

sentence

7.66
    The verbs in the above lists are sometimes called
performative verbs
or
performatives
, because they perform the action they refer to.

USAGE NOTE

7.67
    Some of these verbs are used with modals when people want to be emphatic, polite, or tentative.

I
must
apologize for Mayfield.
I
would
agree with a lot of their points.
She was very thoroughly checked, I
can
assure you.
May
I congratulate you again on your excellent performance.

Avoiding mention of the person speaking or thinking

7.68
    There are several reporting structures that you can use if you want to avoid saying whose opinion or statement you are giving.

use of passives to express general beliefs

7.69
    If you want to show or suggest that something is an opinion held by an unspecified group of people, you can use a passive form of a reporting verb with
it
as the
impersonal
subject.

It is assumed that the government will remain in power.
In former times it was believed that all enlarged tonsils should be removed.
It is now believed that foreign languages are most easily taught to young children.
It was said that half a million dollars had been spent on the search.

Here is a list of reporting verbs that are used in the passive with
it
as their subject:

accept

acknowledge

admit

agree

allege

announce

argue

assert

assume

believe

claim

comment

concede

conclude

confirm

consider

decide

decree

discover

estimate

expect

explain

fear

feel

find

foresee

forget

guarantee

hold

hope

imply

know

mention

note

notice

object

observe

predict

propose

realize

recall

reckon

recommend

record

remember

report

request

reveal

rule

rumour

say

state

stipulate

suggest

suppose

think

understand

This structure has much in common with a structure using a passive reporting verb and a
to
-infinitive clause. In this structure, the main person or thing involved in the reported opinion is put as the subject of the reporting verb.

Intelligence is assumed to be important.
He is said to have died a natural death.
He is believed to have fled to France.

Note that the
to
-infinitive is most commonly
be
or
have
, or a perfect infinitive.

Here is a list of reporting verbs, from the list above, that are also used in this type of structure:

agree

allege