Top Tips Grammar: Reporting the past

Main points

*A reporting structure is used to report what people say or think.
*You use the present tense of the reporting verb when you are reporting something that someone says or thinks at the time you are speaking.
*You often use past tense in report structures because a reported clause usually reports something that was said or believed in the past.

 

a) You use a repot structure to report what people say or think. A report structure consist of two parts. One part is the reporting clause, which contains the reporting verbs.

- I told him nothing was going to happen to me.
- I agreed that he should do it.
- The other part is the reported clause.
- He felt that he had to do something.
- Henry said he wanted to go home.

 

b) For the verb in the reporting clause, you choose a tense that is appropriate at the time you are speaking.

Because reports are usually about something that was said or believed in the past, both the reporting verb and the verb in the reported clause are often in a past tense.

- Mrs. Kaur announced that the lecture had begun.
- At the time we thought that he was mad.

 

c) Although you normally use past tenses in reports about the past, you can use a present tense in the reported clause if what you are saying is important in the present, for example:

*because you want to emphasize that it is still true.

- Did you tell him that this young woman is looking for a job?

*because you want to give advice or a waning, or make a suggestion for the present or future.

- I told you they have this class on Friday afternoon, so you should have come a bit earlier.

 

d) You use a present tense for the reporting verb when you are reporting:

*what someone says or thinks at the same time you are speaking.

- She says she wants to see you this afternoon.
- I think there’s something wrong.

Note that, as in the last example, it may be your own thoughts that you are reporting.

*what someone often says.

- He says that no one understand him.

*what someone has said in the past, if what they said is still true.

- My doctor says, it’s nothing to worry about.

 

e) If you are predicting what people will say or think, you use a future tense for the reporting verb.

 - No doubt he will claim that his car broke down.
 - They will think we are making a fuss.

 

f) You very rarely try to report the exact words of a statement. You usually give a summary of what was said. For example, John might say:

- ‘I tried to phone you about six times yesterday. I let the phone ring for ages but there was no answer. I couldn’t get through at all so I finally gave up’.

You would probably report this as:

- John said he tried to phone several times yesterday, but he couldn’t get through.

 

g) When you are telling a story of your own, or one that you have heard from someone else, direct speech simply becomes part of the narrative.

In this extract a taxi driver picks up a passenger:

- ‘What part of Pucallpa are you headed for?’ I asked him.
- ‘I’m going to Yarinacocha Lake to catch boats. It’s Carnivals day today.’
- ‘So it is’, I said. ‘I wish I were going with you. I love carnivals’.

You might report this as part of the narrative without reporting verbs.

- My passenger was going to Yarinacocha Lake to see carnival festival, and I wanted to go with him.

 

 

 

 

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Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
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See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Reported questions

Main points

*You use reported questions to talk about a question that someone else has asked.
*In reported questions, the subject of the question comes before the verb.
*You use ‘if’ or ‘whether’ in reported ‘yes/no’- questions.

 

a) When you are talking about a question that someone has asked, you use a reported question.

- She asked me why I was so late.
- He wanted to know where I was going.
- I demanded to know what was going on.
- I asked her if I could help her.
- I asked her whether there was anything wrong.

In formal and written English, ‘enquire’ (also spelled ‘inquire’) is often used instead of ‘ask’.

- Elena had enquired if she did a lot of acting.
- He inquired whether he could see her.

 

b) When you are reporting a question, the verb in the reported clause is often in a past tense. This is because you are often talking about the past when you are reporting someone else’s words.

- She asked me why I was so late.
- Pat asked him if she had hurt him.

However, you can use a present or future tense if the question you are reporting relates to the present or future.

- Mark was asking if you’re enjoying your new job.
- They asked if you’ll be there tomorrow night.

 

c) In reported questions, the subject of the question comes before the verb, just as it does in affirmative sentences.

- She asked me why I was late.
- I asked what he was doing.

 

d) You do not normally use the auxiliary ‘do’ in reported questions.

- She asked him if his parents spoke French.
- They asked us what we thought.

He auxiliary ‘do’ can be used in reported questions, but only for emphasis, or to make a contrast with something that has already been said. It is not put before the subject as in direct questions.

- She asked me whether I really did mean it.
- I told him I didn’t like classical music. He asked me what kind of music I did like.

 

e) You use ‘if’ or ‘whether’ to introduce reported ‘yes/no’- questions.

- I asked him if he was on holiday.
- She hugged him and asked him whether he was all right.
- I asked him whether he was single.

‘Whether’ is used especially when there is a choice of possibilities.

- I was asked whether I wanted to stay at a hotel or at his home.
- They asked whether Tim was or was not in the team.
- I asked him whether he loved me or not.

Note that you can put ‘or not’ immediately after ‘whether’, but not immediately after ‘if’.

- The police didn’t ask whether or not they were in.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Reporting ‘that’ clauses

Main points

*You usually use your own words to report what someone said, rather than repeating their exact words.
*Report structures contain a reporting clause first, then a reported clause.
*When you are reporting a statement, the reported clause is a ‘that’- clause.
*You must mention the hearer with ‘tell’. You need not mention the hearer with ‘say’.

 

a) When you are reporting what someone said, you do not usually repeat their exact words, you use your own words in a report structure.

- Jim said he wanted to go home.

Jim’s actual word might have been ‘It’s time I went’ or ‘I must go’.

Report structures contain two clauses. The first clause is the reporting clause, which contains a reporting verb such as ‘say’, ‘tell’, or ‘ask’.

- She said that she’d been to Belgium.
- The man in the shop told me how much it would cost.

You often use verbs that refer to people’s thoughts and feelings to report what people say. If someone says ‘I am wrong’, you might report this as ‘He felt that he was wrong.

 

b) The second clause in a report structure is the reported clause, which contains the information that you are reporting. The reported clause can be a ‘that’- clause, a ‘to’- infinitive clause, an ‘if’ clause, or a ‘wh’- word clause.

- She said that she didn’t know.
- He told me to do it.
- Mary asked if she could stay with us.
- She asked where he’d gone.

c) If you want to report a statement, you use a ‘that’- clause after a verb such as ‘say’.

admit	claim	explain	reply
agree	complain	insist	say
answer	decide	mention	warn
argue	deny	promise

- He said that he would go.
- I replied that I had not read it yet.

You often omit ‘that’ from the ‘that’- clause, nut no after ‘answer’, ‘argue’, ‘explain’, or ‘reply’

They said I had to see a doctor first.
He answered that the price would be three pounds.

You often mention the hearer after the preposition ‘to’ with the following verbs.

admit	complain	mention	suggest
announce	explain	say

- He complained to me that you were rude.

 

d) ‘Tell’ and some other reporting verbs are also used with a ‘that’- clause, but with these verbs you have to mention the hearer as the object of the verb.

convince	notify	reassure	tell
inform	persuade	remind

- He told me that he was a farmer.
- I informed her that I could not come.

The word ‘that’ is often omitted after ‘tell’.

- I told them you were at the dentist.

You can also mention the hearer as the object of the verb with ‘promise’ and ‘warn’.

- I promise her that I wouldn’t be late.

 

e) Note the differences between ‘say’ and ‘tell’. You cannot use ‘say’ with the hearer as the object of the verb. You cannot say ‘I said them you had gone’. In the other hand, you cannot use ‘tell’ without the hearer as the object of the verb. You cannot say ‘I told that you had gone’. You cannot use ‘tell’ with ‘to’ and the hearer. You cannot say ‘I told them you had gone’.

 

f) The reporting verbs that have the hearer as object, such as ‘tell’, can be used in the passive.

- She was told that there were no tickets left.

Most reporting verbs that don’t need the hearer as object, such as ‘say’, can be used in the passive with impersonal ‘it’ as subject, but not ‘answer’, ‘complain’, ‘insist’, ‘promise’, ‘reply’, or ‘warn’.

- It was said that the money had been stolen.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Other report structures

Main points

*When reporting an order, a request, or a piece of advice, the reported clause is a ‘to’- infinitive clause, used after an object.
*When reporting a question, the reported clause is an ‘if’- clause or a ‘wh’- word clause.
*May reporting verbs refer to people’s thoughts and feelings.

 

a) If you want to report an order, a request, or a piece of advice, you use a ‘to’- infinitive clause after a reporting verb such as ‘tell’, ‘ask’, or ‘advise’. You mention the hearer as the object of the verb, before the ‘to’- infinitive clause.

advise	command	invite	remind
ask	forbid	order	tell
beg	instruct	persuade	warn

- Johnson told her to wake him up.
- He ordered me to fetch the books.
- He asked her to marry him.
- He advised me to buy it.

If the order, request, or advice is negative, you put ‘not’ before the ‘to’- infinitive.

- He had ordered his officers not to use weapons.
- She asked her staff not to discuss it publicly.
- Doctors advised him not to play for three weeks.

If the subject of the ‘to’- infinitive clause is the same as the subject of the main verb, you can use ‘ask’ or ‘beg’ to report a request without mentioning the hearer.

- I asked to see the manager.
- Both men begged not to be named.

 

b) If you want to report a question, you use a verb such as ‘ask’ followed by an ‘if’- clause or a ‘wh’- word clause.

- I asked if I could stay with them,
- They wondered whether the time was right.
- He asked me where I was going.
- She inquired how Ibrahim was getting on.

Note that in reported questions, the subject of the question comes before the verb, just as it does in affirmative sentences.

 

c) Many reporting verbs refer to people’s thoughts and feelings but are often used to report what people say. For example, if someone says ‘I must go’, you might report this as ‘She wanted to go’ or ‘She thought she should go’.

Some of these verbs are followed by:

*a ‘that’- clause

accept	fear	imagine	think
believe	feel	know	understand
consider	guess	suppose	worry

- We both knew that the town was cut off.
- I had always believed that I would see him again.

* a ‘to’- infinitive clause

intend

plan

want

- He doesn’t want to get up.

* a ‘that’- clause or a ‘to’- infinitive clause

agree	forget	regret
decide	hope	remember
expect	prefer	wish

- She hoped she wasn’t going to cry.
- They are in love and wish to marry.

‘Expect’ and ‘prefer’ can also be followed by an object and a ‘to’- infinitive.

- I’m sure she doesn’t expect you to take the plane.
- The headmaster prefers them to act plays they have written themselves.

 

d) A speaker’s exact words are more often used in stories than in ordinary conversation.

- ‘I knew I’d seen you,’ I said.
- ‘Only one,’ replied the Englishman.
- ‘Let’s go and have a look at the swimming pool,’ she suggested.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.