Reporting orders, requests, advice, and intentions

7.36 If someone orders, requests, or advises someone else to do something, this can be reported by using a 'to'-infinitive clause after a reporting verb such as 'tell'. The person being addressed, who is to perform the action, is mentioned as the object of the reporting verb.

Johnson told her to wake him up.

He commanded me to stay there.

He ordered me to fetch the books.

My doctor advised me to see a neurologist.

This is a type of phase structure (see paragraphs 3.203 and 3.207).

Here is a list of reporting verbs which can be used with a person as object followed by a 'to'-infinitive clause:

advise ask beg

command forbid instruct

invite order persuade

remind teach tell

urge warn

7.37 A few verbs can be used with a 'to'-infinitive clause to report requests when the nearer is mentioned in a prepositional phrase.

An officer shouted to us to stop all the noise.

l pleaded with him to tell me.

Here is a list of these verbs and the prepositions used with them:

appeal to plead with

shout at shout to

whisper to yell at

7.38 In ordinary conversation, requests are often put in the form of a question. For example, you might say 'Will you help me?' instead of 'Help me'. Similarly, reported requests often look like reported questions.

People ask me if can lend them fifty dollars.

When you report a request like this, you can mention both the person receiving it and the person making it.

He asked me whether I would help him.

Alternatively, you can just mention the person making it.

He asked if I would answer some questions.

7.39 You can report a request in which someone asks if they can do something by using a 'to'-infinitive clause after 'ask' or 'demand'.

I asked to see the manager.

7.40 When someone makes a suggestion about what someone else, not their hearer, should do, you report it by using a 'that'-clause. This clause often contains a modal, usually 'should'.

He proposes that the Government should hold an inquiry.

It was definite enough for a doctor to advise that she should have treatment.

Note that this structure can also be used to report a suggestion about what the hearer should do. Consider the example: 'Her father had suggested that she ought to see a doctor'; her father might have suggested it directly to her.

If you do not use a modal, the result is more formal.

Someone suggested that they break into small groups.

Note that when you leave out the modal, the verb in the reported clause still has the form it would have if the modal were present. This use of the base form is sometimes called the subjunctive.

It was his doctor who advised that he change his job.

I suggested that he bring them all up to the house.

He urges that the restrictions be lifted.

Here is a list of reporting verbs which can be followed by a 'that'-clause containing a modal or a subjunctive:

advise agree ask beg command

decree demand direct insist intend

order plead pray prefer propose

recommend request rule stipulate suggest

urge

Note that 'advise', 'ask', 'beg', 'command', 'order', and 'urge' can also be used with an object and a 'to'-infinitive, and 'agree', 'pray', and 'suggest' can also be used with 'that'-clauses without a modal.

7.41 When someone makes a suggestion about what someone else should do, or about what they themselves and someone else should do, you can report this using one of the reporting verbs 'suggest', 'advise', 'propose', or 'recommend' with a non-finite clause beginning with a present participle.

Barbara suggested going to another coffee-house.

Deirdre proposed moving to New York.

reporting intentions and hopes 7.42 When you are reporting an action that the speaker (the subject of the reporting verb) intends to perform, you can report it in two ways. You can either report it simply as an action, using a 'to'-infinitive clause, or you can report it as a statement or fact, using a 'that'-clause.

For example, promises relate to actions (eg 'He promised to phone her') but they can also be seen as relating to facts (eg 'He promised that he would phone her').

The verb group in the 'that'-clause always contains a modal.

I promised to come back.

She promised that she would not leave hospital until she was better.

I decided to withhold the information till later.

She decider that she would leave her money to him.

I had vowed to fight for their freedom.

He vowed that he would ride at my side into Mexico.

Here is a list of verbs which can be used either with a 'to'-infinitive clause or with a 'that'-clause containing a modal:

decide expect guarantee

hope pledge promise

propose resolve swear

threaten vow

7.43 'Claim' and 'pretend' can also be used with these two structures when you are saying that someone is claiming or pretending something about himself or herself. For example, 'He claimed to be a genius' has the same meaning as 'He claimed that he was a genius'.

He claimed to have witnessed the accident.

He claimed that he had found the money in the forest.

Note that the infinitive in the 'to'-infinitive clause can be a perfect infinitive, referring to a past event or situation.

7.44 Note that a few verbs which indicate personal intentions can only be used with a 'to'-infinitive clause.

I intend to say nothing for the present.

They are planning to move to the country.

I don't want to die yet.

Here is a list of these verbs:

intend long

mean plan

refuse want

7.45 When you are reporting an action that someone is wondering about doing themselves, you can use a 'to'-infinitive clause beginning with 'whether'.

I've been wondering whether to retire.

He didn't know whether to feel glad or sorry at his dismissal.

Here is a list of verbs that can be used with 'to'-infinitive clauses of this kind:

choose

debate

decide

know

wonder

Note that 'choose', 'decide' and 'know' are usually used in a negative or interrogative clause, or a clause with a modal.

When you are mentioning information about something involved in an action, you can use a 'to'-infinitive clause after a 'wh'-word as the reported clause.

I asked him what to do.

I shall teach you how to cook.

Here is a list of verbs which can be used with 'to'-infinitive clauses of this kind:

describe discover discuss explain

forget guess imagine know

learn realize remember reveal

say see suggest teach

tell think understand wonder

As an alternative to both kinds of 'to'-infinitive clause, you can use a clause containing 'should'.

I wondered whether I should call for help.

He began to wonder what he should do now.

All the verbs in the above lists, except 'choose' and 'debate', can also be used with ordinary clauses beginning with 'whether' or 'wh'-words. See paragraphs 7.32 to 7.35.