7.73 the hearer in prepositional phrases

With many other reporting verbs, if you want to mention the hearer, you do so in a prepositional phrase beginning with 'to'.

• I explained to her that I had to go home.
• 'Margaret,' I said to her, 'I'm so glad you came.'

Here is a list of reporting verbs which are used with 'that'-clauses or quotes and which need the preposition 'to' if you mention the hearer:

• admit, announce, boast, complain, confess, declare, explain, hint, insist, mention, murmur, report, reveal, say, shout, suggest, swear, whisper

'Propose' and 'swear' can also be used with a 'to'-infinitive clause, but not if you mention the hearer.

• I swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

7.74

When you are describing a situation in which a speaker is speaking forcefully to a hearer, you can mention the hearer in a prepositional phrase beginning with 'at'.

• The tall boy shouted at them, 'Choir! Stand still!'
• 'Where the devil have you come from?' he growled at her.

Here is a list of reporting verbs which are used to describe forceful speech. If you want to mention the hearer, you use a prepositional phrase beginning with 'at':

• bark, bellow, growl, grumble, howl, roar, scream, shout, shriek, snap, storm, thunder, wail, yell

7.75

With verbs which describe situations where both the speaker and the hearer are involved in the speech activity, you can mention the hearer in a prepositional phrase beginning with 'with'.

• He agreed with us that it would be better to have no break.
• I argued with Rick that he was involved in a form of blackmail.

Here is a list of reporting verbs which take the preposition 'with' if you mention the hearer:

• agree, argue, confirm, plead, reason

7.76

With verbs which describe situations where someone is getting information from someone or something, you use a prepositional phrase beginning with 'from' to mention the source of the information.

• I discovered from her that a woman prisoner had killed herself.

Here is a list of reporting verbs where the source of the information is mentioned using 'from':

• discover, elicit, gather, hear, infer, learn, see