Reporting clause

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 verbs in these clauses 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 statements, the word used is that. In indirect questions, it is frequently whether, or some other wh-word.

• She mentioned that
• He asked who
• The government spokesman explained that

In an indirect commands, the structure used is most often a to-infinitive

• The general ordered his men to
• They told us to