reporting verbs with that, wh- and if clauses
Reporting verbs with that clauses:
Some verbs introduce a report, an idea or a summary. These verbs have the pattern:
N + V + (that) + clause
When we want to say what someone says or thinks we can use a clause with that;
He said that I had to see a doctor.
I thought that he was being silly.
We can leave out the word that:
He said I had to see a doctor.
I thought he was being silly.
With some verbs we can mention the hearer as the object of the verb:
She reminded him that it was time to go.
He told me he was a friend of yours.
These verbs have the pattern;
N + V + N + (that) + clause.
Reporting verbs with wh- and if clauses
Some verbs introduce summaries, reports, questions or problems:
She explained what we had to do.
He asked if I was ready
I didn’t know what to do.
These verbs have the pattern:
N + V + wh- + clause:
She wondered where she was.
or
N + V + if + clause:
Ken asked if we wanted to go.
With some verbs we can mention the hearer as the object of the verb:
She asked me if I was ready.
He told me what I had to do.
These verbs have the pattern:
N + V + N + wh- + clause:
I told them what he was doing.
or
N + V + N + if + clause:
Ken asked us if we wanted to go.
English Grammar
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- Clause, phrase and sentence
- clause structure
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- link verbs
- double object verbs
- verbs with -ing forms
- verbs with to + infinitive
- reporting verbs with that, wh- and if clauses
- two- and three-part verbs
- verb patterns - adverbials
- clauses: short forms
- relative clauses
- reporting: reports and summaries
- verbs - questions and negatives
- wh- clauses
- noun Phrase
- verb phrase
- adverbial phrases
- prepositional phrases
- sentence structure
- adjective phrases
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Comments
can we say
.I thought he was silly
or its wrong
i need some explanation on using be or being or been
realy it is difficult . what wil be the difference between these 2 sentences
1 .I thought he was being silly.
2 .I thought he was been silly.
3 .I thought he would be silly.
thanks waiting for answer
Hello Zeyad,
Sentence number 2 is not good English. Sentence 1 is talking about how the speaker thought he was behaving in the past. Sentence 3 is talking about the speakers' expectation or prediction in the past.
Best wishes,
Adam
The LearnEnglish Team
Very easy! But useful!