7.78 objects with reporting verbs

Sometimes you use a noun such as 'question', 'story', or 'apology' to refer to what someone has said or written. You can use a reporting verb with one of these nouns as its object instead of a reported clause.

• He asked a number of questions.
• Simon whispered his answer.
• He told funny stories and made everyone laugh.
• Philip repeated his invitation.

Here is a list of reporting verbs which are often used with nouns that refer to something spoken or written:

• accept, acknowledge, ask, begin, believe, continue, demand, deny, expect, explain, forget, guess, hear, imagine, know, learn, mention, mutter, note, notice, promise, refuse, remember, repeat, report, shout, state, suggest, tell, understand, whisper, write

7.79

Some reporting verbs can have as their objects nouns that refer to events or facts. These nouns are often closely related to verbs. For example, 'loss' is closely related to 'lose', and instead of saying 'He admitted that he had lost his passport', you can say 'He admitted the loss of his passport'.

• British Airways announce the arrival of flight BA 5531 from Glasgow.
• The company reported a 45 per cent drop in profits.

Here is a list of reporting verbs which are often used with nouns that refer to events or facts:

• accept, acknowledge, admit, announce, demand, describe, discover, discuss, doubt, expect, explain, fear, foresee, forget, imagine, mean, mention, note, notice, observe, predict, prefer, promise, recommend, record, remember, report, see, sense, suggest, urge