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
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.
The following verbs are used with on. None of them take an object referring to the hearer.
agree
comment
decide
determine
insist
remark
report
write
He had already decided on his story.
They are insisting on the release of all political prisoners.
Note that speak and talk are used with about and of but not with reported clauses.
Other ways of using reported clauses
nouns used with reported clauses
7.86 There are many nouns, such as statement, advice, and opinion, that refer to what someone says or thinks. Many of the nouns used in this way are related to reporting verbs. For example, information is related to inform, and decision is related to decide. These nouns can be used in reporting structures in a similar way to reporting verbs. They are usually followed by a reported clause beginning with that.
He referred to Copernicus’ statement that the Earth moves around the sun.
They expressed the opinion that I must be misinformed.
There was little hope that he would survive.
Here is a list of nouns that have related reporting verbs and that can be used with that-clauses:
admission
advice
agreement
announcement
answer
argument
assertion
assumption
belief
claim
conclusion
decision
declaration
dream
expectation
explanation
feeling
guess
hope
information
knowledge
promise
reply
report
response
revelation
rule
rumour
saying
sense
statement
thought
threat
understanding
warning
wish
Some of these nouns can also be followed by a to-infinitive clause:
agreement
claim
decision
hope
promise
threat
warning
wish
The decision to go had not been an easy one to make.
Barnaby’s father had fulfilled his promise to buy his son a horse.
Note that some nouns that are not related to reporting verbs can be followed by that-clauses, because they refer or relate to facts or beliefs. Here is a list of some of these nouns:
advantage
benefit
confidence
danger
disadvantage
effect
evidence
experience
fact
faith
idea
impression
news
opinion
possibility
principle
risk
sign
story
tradition
view
vision
word
He didn’t want her to get the idea that he was rich.
She can’t accept the fact that he’s gone.
Eventually a distraught McCoo turned up with the news that his house had just burned down.
8 Combining messages
8.1 Sometimes a statement is too complex or detailed to be expressed in a single clause. You make statements of this kind by putting two or more clauses together in one sentence.
There are two ways in which you can do this. One way is to use one clause as a main clause and to add other subordinate clauses. A subordinate clause is a clause that depends on the main clause to complete its meaning, and that cannot form a sentence on its own. For this reason, in some grammars, it is called a dependent clause.
I came because I want you to help me.
I didn’t like the man who did the gardening for them.
You have no right to keep people off your land unless they are doing damage.
When he had gone, Valentina sighed.
The other way is simply to link clauses together.
I’m an old man and I’m sick.
I like films but I don’t go to the cinema very often.
Questions and orders can also consist of more than one clause.
What will I do if he doesn’t come?