Grammar: Sentence: Quoting and reporting speech and thoughts

Reporting speech and thoughts

Saying and thinking verbs in indirect speech

The main verbs used to report speech and thoughts, ie for indirect speech, are the same as those used for quoting speech and thoughts, ie say, ask, tell, and think. We outline here some of the significant differences between the verbs used for quoting and reporting. 

Saying verbs for reporting Statements, Questions and Commands

The verbs say, ask and tell are each associated with the grammatical form or 'mood' that most commonly expresses the speech function of the reported clause, ie statement, question or command. The reported clause maintains the mood of the quoted clause in direct speech: 

	Statement (declarative)
		Kitty said (that) her brother was late. [indirect speech] Kitty said: "My brother is late." [direct speech]
	Question (interrogative)
		Kitty asked (her brother) if he was going to be late. [indirect speech] Kitty asked her brother: "Are you going to be late?" [direct speech]
	Command (imperative)
		Kitty told her brother to be on time. [indirect speech] Kitty said to her brother: "Be on time!" [direct speech]

A much greater variety of saying verbs are used for reporting speech or thoughts in writing than in conversation, eg announce, observe, point out, remark, report. In written English there are also a number of verbs used for reporting speech or thoughts that are generally not used for quoting speech or thoughts, eg claim, deny, imply, maintain, remind:

Granny Gong implied that the ghost was lying.  Granny Gong implied: "The ghost is lying."

Some of the saying verbs used to report speech or thoughts are restricted to reporting Commands, eg encourage, forbid, persuade, recommend, undertake:

In spoken indirect speech we generally make use of the more common verbs, eg say, ask tell (He said that he tired.) and use adverbs to indicate the manner in which the words were (allegedly) spoken (He quietly said that he was tired.). In story writing a greater variety of verbs are used used to indicate manner, eg cry, exclaim, grumble, murmur, shout, whisper, yell.  

Thinking verbs for reporting Statements and Questions

The verb think is the most common verb used to report thoughts. However, it is mainly used for Statements, with a variety of other verbs used for Questions:  

Granny thought   (that) she knew how to catch the ghost.  [Statement (declarative)]

Miss Lee wondered why the children were so sleepy.  [Question (interrogative)]

Thinking verbs for reporting Commands

The verbs used for reporting Commands express the wish that someone do something:

The verbs used for reporting Commands express 'liking' and 'wanting', which belong to a subcategory of 'thinking and feeling' verbs. For more information on liking and wanting verbs, see:

Grammar: Clause: Using the clause to represent experience: The processes: 'What's happening?': 'Thinking and feeling'

Note that the terms Command, Question and Statement are written with an initial capital to remind us that they are functional terms.