Collins Cobuild English Grammar (135 page)

He
answered
that the price would be three pounds.
He never told me, sir, Watson
complained
.
‘Please don’t,’ I
begged
.
I
suggested
that it was time to leave.

Some reporting verbs used in direct speech show the manner of speaking. See paragraph
7.19
.

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

acknowledge

add

admit

advise

agree

allege

announce

answer

argue

ask

assert

assure

beg

begin

boast

call

chorus

claim

command

comment

complain

concede

confess

confirm

contend

continue

convince

cry

declare

decree

demand

deny

describe

direct

discuss

dispute

enquire

explain

forbid

grumble

guarantee

hint

imply

inform

inquire

insist

instruct

invite

lament

maintain

mention

mumble

murmur

muse

mutter

note

notify

object

observe

order

persuade

plead

pledge

pray

predict

proclaim

promise

prophesy

propose

reassure

recall

recite

recommend

record

refuse

remark

remind

repeat

reply

report

request

respond

reveal

rule

say

scream

shout

shriek

state

stipulate

storm

suggest

swear

teach

tell

threaten

thunder

urge

vow

wail

warn

whisper

write

yell

BE CAREFUL

7.8
      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

7.9
      Many reporting verbs are used to talk about people’s thoughts, rather than what they say. Reporting verbs are used to talk about many different kinds of thought, including beliefs, wishes, hopes, intentions, and decisions. They can also be used to talk about remembering and forgetting.

We both
knew
that he was lying.
‘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 that can be used to report people’s thoughts:

accept

agree

assume

believe

consider

decide

determine

doubt

dream

estimate

expect

fear

feel

figure

foresee

forget

guess

hold

hope

imagine

intend

judge

know

long

mean

muse

note

plan

ponder

pray

prefer

propose

reason

recall

reckon

reflect

regret

remember

resolve

suppose

think

understand

vow

want

wish

wonder

worry

verbs of learning and perceiving

7.10
    Some reporting verbs are used for talking about 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 that refer to learning and perceiving facts:

conclude

discover

elicit

find

gather

hear

infer

learn

note

notice

observe

perceive

read

realize

see

sense

7.11
    Some of the verbs in the above lists, such as
tell
and
promise
, must be or can be followed by an object showing who the hearer is. See paragraphs
7.75
to
7.76
.

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

indicating the way that something is said

7.12
    When you use direct speech or reported speech, 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.
I know what you mean, Carrie replied
with feeling
.

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