Reporting clause - Revision history

PeterWilson at 17:00, 6 May 2008

2008-05-06T17:00:53Z

PeterWilson at 16:23, 6 May 2008

2008-05-06T16:23:47Z

PeterWilson at 13:59, 5 May 2008

2008-05-05T13:59:03Z

PeterWilson: New page: A '''reporting clause''' is the term used in AWE - and other grammar books - for one element of reported speech: the necessary indication that someone's words are being reported, a...

2008-05-05T12:23:05Z

New page: A '''reporting clause''' is the term used in AWE - and other grammar books - for one element of reported speech: the necessary indication that someone's words are being reported, a...

New page

A '''reporting clause''' is the term used in AWE - and other [[grammar]] books - for one element of [[reported speech]]: the necessary indication that someone's words are being reported, along with, usually, an identification of the speaker. These include
*He said
*I answered
*The Minister announced
*She thought
*The spokeswoman informed us
The [[verb]]s in these [[clause]]s are conveniently classified as '''verbs of utterance'''. There are many in this category, including some whose 'utterance' is silent, like
*He thought
Shakespeare wrote
and some which are transformed from the speaker's original words, as when "I wonder whether my learned friend has considered ..." becomes
*He wondered whether...
When it is being used in [[direct speech]], a '''reporting clause''' is separated from the words used by punctuation (see [[Punctuation of direct speech]]). When it is being used in [[indirect speech]], the '''reporting clause''' is normally followed, in formal English, by a [[conjunction]]. Most commonly, in [[indirect statement]]s, the word used is '''that'''. In [[indirect question]]s, it is frequently '''whether''', or some other [[wh-word]].
*She mentioned that
*He asked who
*The government spokesman explained that
In an [[indirect command]]s, the structured used is most often a [[to-infinitive]]
*The general ordered his men to
*They told us to

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:00, 6 May 2008
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	*They told us to		*They told us to

−	[[category:reported speech]]	+	[[category:reported speech]][[category:grammar concepts]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:59, 5 May 2008
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	*The general ordered his men to		*The general ordered his men to
	*They told us to		*They told us to
		+
		+	[[category:reported speech]]

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 The [[verb]]s in these [[clause]]s are conveniently classified as '''verbs of utterance'''. There are many in this category, including some whose 'utterance' is silent, like
 *He thought
-Shakespeare wrote
+*Shakespeare wrote
 and some which are transformed from the speaker's original words, as when "I wonder whether my learned friend has considered ..." becomes
 *He wondered whether...
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 *He asked who
 *The government spokesman explained that
-In an [[indirect command]]s, the structured used is most often a [[to-infinitive]]
+In an [[indirect command]]s, the structure used is most often a [[to-infinitive]]
 *The general ordered his men to
 *They told us to
 [[category:reported speech]]