Referring to the speaker and hearer

7.68 You usually use a reporting verb to report what one person has said or thought, so the subject of a reporting verb is usually a singular noun.

Henry said that he wanted to go home.

He claimed his health had been checked several times at a clinic.

When you report the statements, opinions, orders, of questions of a group of people, you can use a plural noun or a collective noun as the subject of the reporting verb.

The judges demanded that the race be run again.

The committee also noted that this was not the first case of its kind.

When you report what was said on television or radio, or what is printed or written in a newspaper or other document, you can mention the source or means of communication as the subject of a reporting verb.

The newspaper said Scotland Yard was investigating the crime.

The letter argued that civil defence was an indispensable element of deterrence.

Note that you can also use 'say' with nouns such as 'sign', 'notice', 'clock', and 'map' as the subject.

...a notice saying that on no account should the attendants be tipped.

A sign over the door said 'Dreamland Cafe'.

The road map said it was 210 kilometres to the French frontier.

use of the passive 7.69 As explained in paragraph 7.65, when you want to avoid mentioning the person who said something, you can use a reporting verb in the passive.

It was said that some of them had become insane.

He was said to be the oldest man in the firm.

If you want to avoid mentioning the person giving an order or giving advice, you use a passive reporting verb with the person who receives the order or advice as the subject of the clause.

Harriet was ordered to keep away from my room.

USAGE NOTE 7.70 If you want to distance yourself from a statement you are making, you can indicate that you are reporting what someone else has said by using a phrase beginning with 'according to', father than using a report structure.

According to Dime, he had strangled Jed in the course of a struggle .

referring to the hearer 7.71 After some reporting verbs that refer to speech, you have to mention the hearer as a direct object. 'Tell' is the most common of these verbs.

I told them you were at the dentist.

I informed her that I was unwell and could not come.

Smith persuaded them that they must support the strike.

You can use these verbs in the passive, with the hearer as the subject.

She had been told she could leave hospital.

Members had been informed that the purpose of the meeting was to elect a new chairman.

She was persuaded to look again.

Here is a list of reporting verbs which must have the hearer as the direct object when they are used with a 'that'-clause:

assure convince

inform notify

persuade reassure

remind tell

Here is a list of reporting verbs which must have the hearer as the direct object when they are used with a 'to'-infinitive clause:

advise beg command

forbid instruct invite

order persuade remind

teach tell urge

warn

7.72 After a few reporting verbs that refer to speech, you can choose whether or not to mention the hearer.

I promised that I would try to phone her.

I promised Myra I'd be home at seven.

The physicians warned that, without the operation, the child would die.

Thomas warned her that his mother was slightly deaf.

Here is a list of reporting verbs which can be used with or without the hearer as object when used with a 'that'-clause:

ask

promise

leech

warn

'Promise' can also be used with or without an object when it is used with a 'to'-infinitive clause. 'Ask' has to be used with an object when it is used with a 'to'-infinitive clause to report a request for the hearer to do something, but it is used without an object when the request is for permission to do something (see paragraphs 7.36 and 7.39).

7.73 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 propose

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

reflexive pronouns 7.77 A reflexive pronoun can be used as the object of a reporting verb or preposition in order to say what someone is thinking. For example, 'to say something to yourself' means to think it rather than to say it aloud.

I told myself that he was crazy.

I'll never possess anything, I said to myself.