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Tenacious Learner Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

The reporting verb 'said'. Unit 7

Hi Teachers,

I've asked about it before. I just want to confirm it.

Even though some grammar books say that when you use the reporting verb 'say' you can use the following structure:

She said (that) she was sorry (to him).

The truth is that 'to him' even thought appears to be optional, it is not really use in real English, is it?

Thanks in advance
  

Top answer

It's "real English" but hardly ever said that way. In most ordinary usage the verb changes to "tell" if you mention the person who heard the message. She said (that) she was sorry.

— CalifJim

  • It's "real English" but hardly ever said that way.
  • In most ordinary usage the verb changes to "tell" if you mention the person who heard the message.
  • She said (that) she was sorry.
  • She told him (that) she was sorry.
  • That "to him" on the end will sound especially bad if the message is long.
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3 Answers
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It's "real English" but hardly ever said that way. In most ordinary usage the verb changes to "tell" if you mention the person who heard the message.

She said (that) she was sorry.

She told him (that) she was sorry.

That "to him" on the end will sound especially bad if the message is long.

She said that she had no idea where she had lost the mo
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Hi Jim,

Thank YOU for you reply.Emotion: smile

I've got two for one! I was going to ask how can I explain with very few words th
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CalifJim
She said that she had no idea where she had lost the money that she had been saving to buy that beautiful fur coat to him.
CJ
Hi,

You probably have to offer some new tenses to actually say this sentence.
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