Collins Cobuild English Grammar (144 page)

The tall boy shouted
at them
, Choir! Stand still!
Shut up! he bellowed
at me
.

Here is a list of reporting verbs that 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

7.79
    With verbs that 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.
Can you confirm
with Ray
that this date is ok?

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

agree

argue

confirm

plead

reason

7.80
    With verbs that 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

7.81
    A
reflexive pronoun
is sometimes 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.
It will soon be over, I kept saying to
myself
.

Other ways of indicating what is said

objects with reporting verbs

7.82
    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 that 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

lay out

learn

mention

mutter

note

notice

promise

refuse

remember

repeat

report

set down

shout

state

suggest

tell

understand

whisper

write

7.83
    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 that 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

USAGE NOTE

7.84
    Note that
say
is usually only used with an object if the object is a very general word such as
something
,
anything
, or
nothing
.

I must have said something wrong.
The man nodded but said nothing.

prepositional phrases with reporting verbs

7.85
    A few verbs referring to speech and thought can be used with a prepositional phrase rather than a reported clause, to indicate the general subject matter of a statement or thought.

Thomas explained
about the request from Paris
.

Here are three lists of verbs that can be used with a prepositional phrase referring to a fact or subject. In each list, the verbs in the first group are used without an object, and the verbs in the second group are used with an object referring to the hearer. Note that
ask
and
warn
can be used with or without an object.

The following verbs are used with
about
:

agree

ask

boast

complain

decide

dream

explain

forget

grumble

hear

inquire

know

learn

mutter

read

wonder

worry

write

~

ask

teach

tell

warn

No one knew
about my interest in mathematics
.
I asked him
about the horses
.

The following verbs are used with
of
:

complain

dream

hear

know

learn

read

think

warn

write

~

assure

convince

inform

notify

persuade

reassure

remind

warn

They never complained
of the incessant rain
.
No one had warned us
of the dangers
.