McGill School of Continuing Studies

Language and Intercultural Communication

Certificate of Proficiency – English for Professional Communication

Reported Speech Verbs

Verb + object Verb no object Verb +/- object

I advised him to… I assumed that she… He explained that…

assure agree guarantee He explained to me that…
convince answer hope acknowledge promise*
inform argue imply admit prove
notify assume know announce remark
persuade believe notice complain report
remind claim observe confess say (Do not use!)
tell deny predict declare show*
discover recommend demonstrate signal
doubt see explain state
expect specify indicate suggest*
feel suppose mention teach*
find think propose warn*
forget understand point out
* show-promise-teach-warn + (simple object)
He promised his secretary that he would…

A. Clauses with wh-word + infinitive

He showed him how to do it.

where to put it.
They wondered -- when to start.
how long to wait.
They pointed out to him how many to buy.

B. Clauses with wh-word + sentence

He asked me how she did it.

what was causing the problem.
I did not know -- where Anna went.
who looked after the accounts.
No one explained to her when the meeting was due to start.

Compiled from Allsop, Jake. 1990. Cassell’s Students’ English Grammar