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- Form and meaning
- Teaching ideas
Form & meaning
Reporting verbs are used to report what someone said more accurately than usingsay & tell.
- verb + infinitive
agree, decide, offer, promise, refuse, threaten- They agreed to meet on Friday.
- He refused to take his coat off.
- verb + object + infinitive
advise, encourage, invite, remind, warn- Tom advised me to go home early.
- She reminded me to telephone my mother.
- verb + gerund
deny, recommend, suggest- They recommended taking the bus.
- She suggested meeting a little earlier.
- verb + object + preposition
accuse, blame, congratulate- He accused me of taking the money.
- They congratulated me on passing all my exams.
- verb + preposition + gerund
apologise, insist- They apologised for not coming.
- He insisted on having dinner.
- verb + subject + verb
admit, agree, decide, deny, explain, insist, promise, recommend, suggest- Sarah decided [that] the house needed cleaning.
- They recommended [that] we take the bus.
Related grammar points
Reported Questions
Reported Speech
Say and Tell