Reporting verbs: Admit doing, refuse to do, etc.

Exercises: 1 2 3

Exercise 2

Choose the correct option for each gap below.

1 He _______ me to stop buying so much stuff online.

A.convinced

B.said

C.recommend

2 I don't blame you _______ to move to another house. I don't like this house either.

A.to want

B.that you want

C.for wanting

3 I suggest _______ the police right now.

A.you to call

B.you call

C.to call

4 She _______ us not to drink that water.

A.informed

B.insisted

C.warned

5 She _______ anything to do with what happened.

A.said not to have

B.denied having

C.insisted not having

6 "I wish I had been there with you." She _______ there with me.

A.regretted not being

B.denied being

C.announced that she wasn't

7 They _______ me not to talk to you anymore.

A.suggested

B.said

C.advised

8 "I won't lend you any more money." He _______ to lend me any more money.

A.admitted

B.informed

C.refused

9 She _______ me to invite Jim to the party.

A.said

B.suggested

C.reminded

10 They _______ me if I didn't tell them where you were.

A.promised they kill

B.threatened to kill

C.warned to kill

Exercises: 1 2 3

Reporting verbs

Reporting verbs are used to report what somebody said, like promise, say, tell, ask, admit, etc. We normally classify these verbs into different groups depending on the structure in which they can be found. In the grammar chart below, you can see the most common reporting verbs and how they are used.

A grammar chart explaining the patterns of reporting verbs, including examples and different structures such as "+ to infinitive," "+ person + to + infinitive," "+ (preposition) + ing," and "+ that + clause.

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In the grammar chart below, you can see the same verbs with example sentences.

A grammar chart providing examples of reporting verbs with different structures, including "+ to infinitive," "+ person + to + infinitive," "+ that + clause," and "+ (preposition) + ing.

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The perfect gerund – regret doing vs regret having done

We use the perfect gerund to indicate that the action expressed by the verb was completed in the past.

I regret being married. (=now)
I regret having been married (=in the past)

However, it’s often obvious whether the action in the gerund happened in the past or not. In those cases, we can use the simple gerund or the perfect gerund with little difference in meaning. With the perfect gerund, we emphasise that the action was completed in the past.

He admitted stealing the money.
He admitted having stolen the money.