B2 Grammar: Reported Speech II

Reported speech 2: reporting verbs

There are many verbs which can be used to introduce reported speech, each followed by different grammatical patterns. You will see that most verbs can  be followed by more than one grammatical pattern.

Verb + infinitive

agree: Magda agreed to look after the children.

offer: She offered to take the children to the zoo.

promise: She’s promised to phone me later.

Verb + object + infinitive

advise: The doctor advise Mrs Carter to take a long holiday.

ask: The neighbours asked us to turn our music down.

invite: Patsy has invited me to go to the party with her.

order: The police ordered everyone to leave the building.

persuade: I persuaded my mother to take on holiday.

remind: Can I remind you to phone Stephen?

tell: Carl told Jane to close all the windows.

warn: They warned us not to walk on the ice.

Verb + preposition + noun or verb + -ing

accuse of: Biggs was accused of robbery. Sophie was accused of stealing books.

admit to: Bill admitted to the mistake. Sally admitted to taking the money.

apologise for: Tommy apologised for the accident. Mandy apologised for being late.

complain about: The neighbours have been complaining about the noise. We complained about being given too much homework to do.

Verb + noun or verb + -ing

admit: Danny admitted the theft. Sue admitted stealing the money.

deny: Silvia denied the theft. Sean denied causing the accident.

recommend: I can really recommend this book. I recommend cycling as a way of getting fit.

suggest*: Jasmine suggested the solution to the problem. Mike suggested going climbing at the weekend.

Verb + (that) + sentence

admit: Sally admitted (that) she had taken the money.

agree: The headteacher agreed (that) the exam had been too difficult.

complain: We complained that we had been given too much homework to do.

deny: Pablo denied that he had caused the accident.

explain: She explained that she wasn’t feeling very well.

promise: Mandy promised (that) she would phone later.

recommend: The doctor recommended (that) I take more exercise.

say: Robin said (that) he was going swimming later.

suggest*: Liz suggested (that) I should try the shopping centre on the edge of town.

Verb + object + (that) + sentence

persuade: I persuaded my mother that she should take a holiday.

promise: Mandy promised Charlie (that) she would phone him later.

remind: Can I remind you (that) you’ve got to phone Stephen?

tell: The school told the students (that) they had the rest of the day free.

warn: Nobody warned me (that) my grandmother was visiting us today.

Others

ask +  if / what, etc. + sentence: She asked me what I was doing. He asked me if I was free.

invite + object + to + noun: Patsy has invited me to the party.

*Note: Suggest is never followed by the infinitive. The following patterns are possible:

suggest + verb + -ing: Maria suggested buying a new computer.

suggest + noun: Phil suggested the idea.

suggest + (that) + sentence with a verb in a tense: Tony suggested that they played football that afternoon.

suggest + (that) + should: Chantal suggested I should write a letter.