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7.5 Reporting statements

reporting clause + that-clause

When we report a statement, we often use a that-clause after the reporting clause:

Tom: I don't know her.
Tom told me that he didn't know her.

That is often omitted after certain reporting verbs in informal styles:

Tom told me he didn't know her.

Examples of reporting verbs used to report statements:

Reporting verbs used with a that-clause
add
admit
agree
announce
answer
argue
boast
claim
comment
complain
confirm
deny
doubt
estimate
exclaim
explain
fear
insist
mention
observe
promise
propose
remark
repeat
reply
report
reveal
be rumoured
say
state
suggest
suppose
tell
warn