What are reporting verbs in academic writing?
William Rodriguez
Published Jan 06, 2026
Reporting verbs help you introduce the ideas or words of others as paraphrase or quotation from scholarly literature. Always accompanied by a reference, they indicate where you're drawing on other people's work to build your own argument.
What are the types of reporting verbs?
Reporting verbs are used to report what someone said more accurately than using say & tell.
- verb + infinitive. agree, decide, offer, promise, refuse, threaten. ...
- verb + object + infinitive. advise, encourage, invite, remind, warn. ...
- verb + gerund. ...
- verb + object + preposition. ...
- verb + preposition + gerund. ...
- verb + subject + verb.
How do you define a reporting verb?
A reporting verb is a word which is used to talk about or report on other people's work. Reporting verbs can be used to great effect, but the difficulty with using them is that there are many, and each of them has a slightly different and often subtle meaning.What are the most common reporting verbs?
The most common reporting verbs are say and tell. However, there are a number of other reporting verbs that can be used instead of say or tell to make more efficient (i.e. shorter) statements and questions. This is a) shorter, and b) makes the function of the sentence absolutely clear.What is the difference between reporting verb and reported verb?
Reported speech: reporting and reported clausesSpeech reports consist of two parts: the reporting clause and the reported clause. The reporting clause includes a verb such as say, tell, ask, reply, shout, usually in the past simple, and the reported clause includes what the original speaker said.
Reporting Verbs in Academic Writing
How are reporting verbs used in summarizing?
Summary of reporting verbs
- Verbs followed by 'if' or 'whether' + clause: ask. ...
- Verbs followed by a that-clause: add. ...
- Verbs followed by either a that-clause or a to-infinitive: ...
- Verbs followed by a that-clause containing should. ...
- Verbs followed by a clause starting with a question word: ...
- Verbs followed by object + to-infinitive.
How do you teach reporting verbs?
How to Teach Reported Verbs in 5 Easy Steps
- Review Quoted Speech with Your Students. ...
- Teaching the Basics of Reported Speech. ...
- Teach Your Students to Use Specific Reporting Verbs. ...
- Alert Your Students to Other Reporting Verbs and Their Patterns. ...
- Follow Up with a Lesson on Advanced Reported Speech.
What are the 4 types of reported speech?
The reported speech can be Assertive/Declarative, Imperative, Interrogative, and Exclamatory.What are the reporting words?
Reporting verbs are an essential part of academic writing. These verbs are used to introduce a quote or a paraphrase. Avoid using the same reporting verb or phrase. Also, make sure you understand what the word means as they can indicate your thoughts about the claim being made.What is reporting verb in narration?
Reporting verb: The verb first part of sentence (i.e. he said, she said, he says, they said, she says,) before the statement of a person in sentence is called reporting verb.What is reporting verb in direct and indirect?
Reported or indirect speech is usually used to talk about the past, so we normally change the tense of the words spoken. We use reporting verbs like 'say', 'tell', 'ask', and we may use the word 'that' to introduce the reported words. Inverted commas are not used. She said, "I saw him." (How do you change a reporting verb in indirect speech?
If the object of reporting verb is not given, then we prefer the use of say/said. However, if the object of reporting verb is given, then we prefer the use of tell/told. (or in other words, we can say that, say/said remains unchanged in indirect speech.Is claim a reporting verb?
Reporting verb + infinitiveVerbs like advise, agree, challenge, claim, decide, demand, encourage, invite, offer, persuade, promise, refuse and remind can follow an infinitive pattern.