eng10-3.3· Unit 3: Reported Speech· ~13 min

Reported commands, requests & reporting verbs

told/asked + to; advise/suggest/offer/promise patterns.

When we report commands and requests, we use an object + (not) to + infinitive: 'told/asked/ordered/advised/warned + somebody + (not) to + base verb'. The key verb choices signal the speaker's intention — 'told' is neutral or direct; 'asked' is polite; 'ordered' is authoritative; 'advised' gives guidance; 'warned' signals danger. Beyond these, English has a rich set of reporting verbs with fixed patterns. Verbs such as offer, promise, agree, refuse, and threaten take 'to + infinitive': 'She offered to help.' Verbs such as suggest, admit, deny, avoid, and apologise for take '-ing': 'He denied stealing the money.' 'Accuse somebody of + -ing' and 'congratulate somebody on + -ing' follow the same pattern. 'Suggest' never takes 'to + infinitive'; instead it uses '-ing' or a 'that' clause. Choosing the wrong pattern — such as 'suggested to go' or 'refused helping' — is a common B1+ error. For example: 'The teacher told the students not to speak during the exam' correctly reports the original command 'Don't speak during the exam.'

Key terms

Reporting verb — A verb that introduces reported speech and signals the speaker's intention (e.g. told, asked, suggested, refused).

Object + to-infinitive — A structure where the reporting verb is followed by a noun/pronoun and then 'to + base verb': 'She told him to leave.'

Gerund after reporting verbs — Some verbs (suggest, admit, deny, avoid, apologise for) must be followed by the -ing form, never by to-infinitive.

Fixed preposition — Certain verb + preposition collocations that cannot change: accuse of, congratulate on, blame for, apologise for.

Negative reported command — A reported instruction not to do something: 'not' always comes before 'to' — 'told her not to leave', never 'told her to not leave'.

Reporting verbs: structure at a glance

Reporting verb	Pattern	Example
told / asked / ordered	object + to + base verb	She told him to sit down.
advised / warned	object + (not) to + base verb	The doctor advised me not to eat sugar.
offer / promise / agree / refuse / threaten	to + base verb (no object)	He refused to answer. / She offered to help.
suggest / admit / deny / avoid / apologise for	-ing form (no to-infinitive)	He admitted taking the money. / She suggested going by train.
accuse somebody of	object + of + -ing	They accused him of stealing the car.
congratulate somebody on	object + on + -ing	She congratulated him on passing the exam.
blame somebody for	object + for + -ing	They blamed the driver for causing the accident.

NOTE: 'suggest' NEVER takes to-infinitive; 'said' cannot take object + to-infinitive (use 'told' instead).

Reporting commands and requests: verb choice by register

Original speech	Speaker's tone	Reporting verb	Reported form
'Sit down, class!'	Neutral / direct	told	The teacher told the class to sit down.
'Please help me.'	Polite request	asked	She asked me to help her.
'Stand up immediately!'	Authoritative	ordered	The sergeant ordered the soldiers to stand up.
'You should see a doctor.'	Guidance	advised	He advised me to see a doctor.
'Don't touch that!'	Danger / prohibition	warned	The officer warned us not to touch it.

Choose the verb that best matches the speaker's intention, not just the words used.

Common confusion: to-infinitive vs -ing after reporting verbs

Verb	Correct pattern	Correct example	Common error
suggest	-ing OR that + clause	suggested going / suggested that we go	suggested to go ✗
offer	to + base verb	offered to help	offered helping ✗
promise	to + base verb	promised to come	promised coming ✗
admit	-ing	admitted making a mistake	admitted to make ✗
deny	-ing	denied taking the money	denied to take ✗
refuse	to + base verb	refused to sign	refused signing ✗

Mixing up these patterns is the most tested area at B1+. Learn each verb's pattern as a fixed chunk.

✎Step-by-step: Choosing the right reporting verb and pattern

1Original sentences: (1) 'I'm sorry I was late,' Ali said. (2) 'You cheated on the test!' the teacher said to me. (3) 'Why don't we go for a walk?' Tarlan said.
2Step 1 — Identify the speech act: (1) Ali is expressing regret → apologise. (2) The teacher is making an accusation → accuse. (3) Tarlan is proposing a joint activity → suggest.
3Step 2 — Select the fixed pattern for each verb: apologise for + -ing | accuse somebody of + -ing | suggest + -ing (or that + clause)
4Step 3 — Build the reported sentence: (1) Ali apologised for being late. (2) The teacher accused me of cheating on the test. (3) Tarlan suggested going for a walk. / Tarlan suggested that we go for a walk.
5Check: No to-infinitive after apologise, accuse, or suggest. Each preposition is fixed: 'for', 'of' — not interchangeable.

✎Negative reported commands: where does 'not' go?

1Original command: 'Don't speak during the exam,' the teacher said.
2Choose the reporting verb: A classroom instruction → 'told'. (Use 'warned' only if the context suggests danger; use 'asked' for polite requests.)
3Build the negative structure: told + object + not to + base verb → 'The teacher told the students not to speak during the exam.'
4Common error to avoid: Do NOT write 'to not speak' — 'not' must come before 'to' in reported negative commands.

🚫Common mistake

'Suggest' + to-infinitive is wrong. Students often write 'suggested to go' or 'suggested me to go' — both are incorrect. Always use 'suggested going' or 'suggested that we go'. This is the single most tested error in this topic.

🚫Common mistake

'Said' cannot take object + to-infinitive. Never write 'said him to leave' or 'said us to finish'. Use 'told', 'asked', or 'ordered' with that structure instead.

🚫Common mistake

Confusing 'blame for' and 'accuse of': 'blamed him of' and 'accused him for' are both preposition errors. Remember: accuse of, blame for — fixed, not swappable.

⚠️Caution

In negative reported commands, 'not' goes BEFORE 'to': 'told her not to leave'. Placing it after — 'told her to not leave' — is a split infinitive and is especially avoided in this structure.

💡Note

A quick memory trick for the two groups: OFFER / PROMISE / AGREE / REFUSE / THREATEN all involve a decision about a future action → they naturally link to 'to + infinitive'. SUGGEST / ADMIT / DENY / AVOID describe an activity or fact → they naturally link to '-ing'.

Rules

1Use told/asked/ordered/advised/warned + object + (not) to + base verb to report commands and requests: 'She told him to leave.'
2offer/promise/agree/refuse/threaten + to + infinitive: 'He refused to answer.' Never use -ing after these verbs.
3suggest/admit/deny/avoid/apologise for + -ing (never + to + infinitive): 'She suggested going by train.' 'He admitted taking the money.'
4accuse somebody of + -ing; congratulate somebody on + -ing; blame somebody for + -ing: the preposition is fixed.
5'Suggest' CANNOT take 'to + infinitive'; use suggest + -ing or suggest + that + subject + verb: 'She suggested (that) we leave early.' NOT 'suggested to leave'.

Practice

15 easy · 15 medium · 15 hard

10 random questions per test

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