Reporting
Reporting what other people said is a common situation both in the media and in our daily lives.
In both situations one should be as accurate as possible so as to convey the message intended by the speaker.
For that one can quote the speaker using his exact words, report his exact words or convey his general message.
In this case the interviewee’s question could be reported in two ways:
He asked if she would like to go out with him.
or
He invited her to go out with him.
The reporting verb makes all the difference, because the second one conveys not only the message, but also the intention of the speaker.
Reporting with specific verbs
Reporting with specific verbs can be a lot simpler, because one doesn’t need to translate all the words.
Look at the following examples:
– I’m sorry about the delay. I won’t do it again.
He apologised for his delay and promised not to do it again.
However, to do that one has to be aware of the different patterns of reporting verbs. There are three main ones.
Click on this link to check a full list of reporting verbs grouped according to their pattern – Reporting verbs list.
Watch this short vídeo:
Now try to report the following situations. Use some specific verbs from the list below.
threaten announced exclaimed commented thought denied refused wondered
Try a few more exercises:
To review the presentation we used in the class: Reported Speech-12º
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