INTERMEDIATE LANGUAGE PRACTICE

Other reporting verbs

• Other reporting verbs describe how the speaker feels or what the speaker does.
advise 7 wouldn’t buy that car, James, if I were you.’
1 advised James not to buy the car.
agree ‘OK, I ’ll give you a lift,’ said Jenny.
Jenny agreed to give her a lift.
‘Yes, Jill, I think you’re right,’ said Mike.
Mike agreed with Jill.
apologize for ‘I ’m really sorry for being so late,’ said Maria.
Maria apologized for being late.
ask ‘Do you think you could help me, Sue?’
I asked Sue to help me.
congratulate on ‘Well done, Tina, you’ve passed the exam!’
I congratulated Tina on passing her exam.
decide ‘I ’ll have the fish soup, please,’ said Bill.
Bill decided to have the fish soup.
deny ‘No, I didn’t take it! I wasn’t even there!’ said Alice.
Alice denied taking it.
invite ‘Would you like to come to the cinema on Saturday, Pam?’
I invited Pam to the cinema on Saturday.
offer ‘Shall I carry your case, Dawn?’ said Peter.
Peter offered to carry Dawn’s case.
promise ‘I ’ll definitely be home by eight,’ said Ann.
Ann promised to be home by eight.
refuse ‘No, I won’t open the door!’ said Carol.
Carol refused to open the door.
remind D on’t forget to send your mother a birthday card, Joe.’
I reminded Joe to send his mother a birthday card.
suggest ‘How about spending the day at the beach?’ said Carlos.
Carlos suggested spending the day at the beach.

Reporting verbs have different patterns. A good dictionary shows this information.
Study the example sentences in the previous section in relation to the patterns below.
Verb + to infinitive: agree, decide, offer, promise, refuse
Verb + object + to infinitive: advise, ask, invite, remind
Verb + -ing form: deny, suggest
Verb + preposition + -ing form: apologize for, congratulate on

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 GRAMMAR 11 REPORTED SPEECH 2

1 Put one suitable word in each space.

1 Fiona asked me ...Wtortto.&T... I .....WAS...... going to school or not.
2 David asked his m other................... sh e .....................be coming home.
3 Peter asked u s ................... w e.....................ever been to Hungary.
4 Costas asked m e ................... I .....................many photographs.
5 Maria asked a policeman................... the museum was.
6 Dora asked her sister................... sh e.....................fed their dog.

2 Complete each question in direct speech, ending as shown.

1 Jack asked me whether I was having lunch or going out.
................................’ Jack asked me.
2 Carol asked Ann what she had done the day before.
‘....................................................................................................... . Ann?’ asked Carol.
3 John asked us if we often went sailing.
‘..........................................................................................................?’ John asked us.
4 Christine asked me how many German books I had read.
‘................................................................................................... V Christine asked me.
5 Kevin asked Sue if she was going to change schools.
‘........................................................................................................ . Sue?’ asked Kevin.
6 Alice asked me who I sat next to in class.
‘...........................................................................................................?’ Alice asked me.

3 Rewrite each sentence in reported speech, beginning as shown. Do not change

the meaning.
1 Are you staying here all summer?’ the little girl asked me.
The little girl asked me ..kf/.WkljJ.tkter..1.W A S .thtM.&lLsUrM-yMX.............
2 ‘What does ‘procrastinate’ mean?’ I asked my teacher.
I asked my teacher..........................................................................................................
3 ‘Have you done your homework, or not?’ my mother asked me.
My mother asked m e .....................................................................................................
4 ‘When is your birthday?’ I asked Sue.
I asked Sue......................................................................................................................
5 ‘Did you remember to lock the door?’ my father asked me.
My father asked m e ........................................................................................................
6 ‘Why have you turned off the television?’ Ellen asked me.
Ellen asked m e ................................................................................................................

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INTERMEDIATE LANGUAGE PRACTICE

4 Use a verb from the box to rewrite each sentence in reported speech, beginning
as shown. Do not change the meaning.

advised apologized congratulated invited offered

pitnilravtl refused suggested

1 ‘I’ll definitely be at your house before 8.00, Sue,’ said Mike.

Mike Sue .. Jflfi Jfifi.<?t h t X . Jp.ftfpTC..$?,££,..........................
2 ‘Would you like to come to the cinema, Jean?’ asked Chris.
C hris...............................................................................................................................
3 ‘I wouldn’t eat too much if I were you, Dave,’ said Patsy.
Patsy...............................................................................................................................
4 ‘How about going for a walk?’ said Nick.
N ick................................................................................................................................
5 ‘I’m terribly sorry for breaking the window,’ said Carol.
C arol...............................................................................................................................
6 ‘Shall I do the washing-up?’ said Bill.
Bill..................................................................................................................................
7 ‘Well done, you’ve passed your driving test,’ said Tina’s mother.
Tina’s m other.................... h e r.....................................................................................
8 ‘No, I won’t open my mouth!’ said Pat.
P at...................................................................................................................................

5 Complete the direct speech.

1 Jane decided to have the green pair of trousers.
‘I th in k .............J.'.lrlt.ki.(W£................................... the green pair of trousers,’ said Jane.
2 Peter reminded Julie to bring her dictionary to the lesson.
‘Don’t ............................................................................ to the lesson, Julie,’ said Peter.
3 The bank manager advised George to open a savings account.
‘I f ...............................................................a savings account,’ said the bank manager.
4 Carol promised not to be late again.
‘I ................................................................................................. late again,’ said Carol.
5 Nick refused to leave the room.
‘No, I ............................................................................................ the room,’ said Nick.
6 Sam denied selling the photographs to the Daily News.
‘I ......................................................... the photographs to the Daily News’, said Sam.

-> SEE ALSO

Grammar 10: Reported speech 1

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GRAMMAR

Conditionals 1
Conditions and results

• Sentences with if where one event depends on another event are called conditionals.
The if... clause is the condition and the other part of the sentence is the result. Here
are four examples of conditionals used for talking about checking in at the airport for
a flight:
0 I f you arrive early, you get a better seat.
1 If you arrive early, you’ll get a better seat.
2 If you arrived early, you’d get a better seat.
3 If you had arrived early, you’d have got a better seat.

• Sentence 0 is talking generally about something that is always true. It is called a zero
conditional.
Sentence 1 describes what someone thinks will happen in a real situation. You believe
that the things you are talking about will happen. It is called a real condition or the
first conditional.
Sentence 2 describes what might happen in the future, or things you can imagine
happening. It is called an imaginary condition or the second conditional.
Sentence 3 describes things you can imagine happening in the past. It is impossible to
change the past, so this is called an impossible condition, or the third conditional.

• Zero, first and second conditionals are included in this unit. The third conditional is
included in Grammar 13.

Zero conditional: if+ present sim p le ,... present simple

• Things that are always or generally true. We can use when or if to introduce the sentence.
It’s a tropical country, so if it rains hard, everyone stays indoors.
It’s a tropical country, so when it rains hard, everyone stays indoors.

• We can use an imperative structure in the result clause. An imperative is when we tell
people what to do.
If you feel dizzy, stop taking the tablets.
If you change your mind, give me a ring.

First conditional: if+ present sim p le ,... w ill/w on't

• Future events that will happen, or are likely to happen. The event is a real possibility
in the speakers mind, not imaginary (for imaginary situations see the second
conditional).
I f we walk so slowly, we’ll be late.
If we run, we won’t be late.
If we don’t run, we will be late.
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