Grammatical Patterns After Reporting Verbs
Reporting verbs are used to convey what someone has said, suggested, or claimed, and they follow specific grammatical patterns. Here are some key structures to keep in mind:
Verb + to + infinitive
| Agree | She agreed to help with the project. |
| Offer | She offered to drive us home. |
| Refuse | He refused to cooperate. |
| Promise | She promised to call later. |
| Threaten | He threatened to quit his job. Grammatical patterns after reporting verbs |
| Claim | He claimed to have seen the suspect. |
| Decide | They decided to postpone the meeting. |
| Demand | She demanded to speak to the manager. |
| Hope | He hoped to win the competition. |
| Prefer | He prefers to work alone. |
Verb + object + to + infinitive
| Advise | She advised him to take a break. |
| Persuade | She persuaded her friend to join the debate club. |
| Ask | He asked her to help with the project. Grammatical patterns after reporting verbs |
| Remind | They encouraged him to apply for the job. |
| Convince | She convinced her parents to let her go on the school trip. |
| Tell | She told him to be careful. |
| Encourage | She encouraged her students to express their creativity. |
| Warn | She warned him not to touch the wires. |
| Invite | She invited them to join the meeting. |
| Order | The officer ordered them to leave immediately. |
| Urge | They urged him to reconsider his decision. |
Verb + -ing
| Admit | She admitted lying about the situation. |
| Deny | He denied knowing anything about the incident. |
| Mention | She mentioned seeing him at the event. Grammatical patterns after reporting verbs |
| Recommend | They recommended taking a break before continuing. |
| Suggest | He suggested going for a walk to clear his mind. |
Verb + preposition + -ing
| Apologize for | She apologized for being late. |
| Insist on | He insisted on speaking to the manager. |
| Blame for | They blamed him for causing the delay. |
| Accuse of | She accused him of lying about the incident. |
| Complain about | He complained about waiting too long in the queue. |
| Congratulate on | They congratulated her on winning the competition. |
Verb + that-clause
| Say | She said that she was feeling tired. |
| Claim | He claimed that he had seen the suspect. |
| Admit | They admitted that they had made a mistake. |
| Suggest | She suggested that we take a break. |
| Insist | He insisted that everything was under control. |
| Explain | She explained that the delay was due to traffic. Grammatical patterns after reporting verbs |
| Promise | He promised that he would call later. |
| Warn | They warned that the storm would be severe. |
| Agree | She agreed that the plan was a good idea. |
| Deny | He denied that he had taken the money. |
Learn about reported speech here
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1 Comment
35 Reporting Verbs in English - My Lingua Academy · 5 Jun 2025 at 9:23 pm
[…] Learn about grammatical patterns after reporting verbs here […]