1. There is much to be said on both sides. 
2. No sooner said than done.
3. Evil [Ill] will never said well.
4. Little said is soon amended.
4. Wish you can benefit from our online sentence dictionary and make progress every day!
5. The least said the better.
6. The least said, the soonest mended.
7. Little said, soonest mended.
8. The least said, the soonest mended.(or Least said, soonest mended).
9. It is said that a cat hath nine lives, yet care would wear them all out.
10. My father had always said that there are four things a child needs plenty of love, nourishing food, fegular sleep, and lots of soap and water—and after those, what he needs most is some intelligent neglect.
11. No promise, only said not over of lies.
12. ‘I’m going now,’ she said, fastening her coat.
13. He proposed to me and I said yes .
14. Pardon me — I didn’t hear what you said.
15. When he said that, I had to agree.
16. What she said was fair comment .
17. He said he wanted to go to town.
18. «No fast food», she said emphatically.
19. The lighted dial of her watch said 1.20.
20. She’s an accomplished liar?they believed every word she said.
21. The doctor said she should be taking vitamin supplements.
22. The banker chuckled and said, «Of course not.».
23. ‘I’m so tired,’ she said.
24. Duff said he would be demanding a rematch.
25. His wife, a strange little mouse, never said anything.
26. Didn’t you hear what I said?
27. He said that dowsing for water is complete nonsense.
28. ‘Oh, hello,’ said Eileen, with forced brightness.
29. ‘I’m feeling rather tired,’ he said, his eyes glazing.
30. Don’t let it end like this . Tell them I said something. Pancho villa, Mexican revolutionary.
Fiction writers are rightly advised to use said in dialogue and avoid redundancies or conspicuous synonyms: ‘You must,’ he insisted. ‘The hell I will!’ she shouted loudly. This sort of thing is likely to annoy readers and distract them from the story. It’s one of Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules of writing:
Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But “said” is far less intrusive than “grumbled”, “gasped”, “cautioned”, “lied”. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with “she asseverated” and had to stop reading and go to the dictionary.
Yet writers continue to riddle their stories with showy or gratuitous synonyms. It can give the impression that they’re trying too hard to enliven their text, without knowing the right and wrong ways to translate their passion for the material into something readers will appreciate, not wince at. If you’re going to thesaurify said, you’ll need a damn good reason.
Cartoon by Edward Steed for the New Yorker
Horror writer Ramsey Campbell had a good reason in his short story ‘Next Time You’ll Know Me’ (1988), which plays around with the ownership of ideas and the challenge of being original. Its narrator deliberately overwrites his account, studiously avoiding said in almost every report of speech in favour of overblown alternatives:
“You’re the apprentice here and don’t you forget it,” he proclaimed with a red face. “Don’t you go trying to be cleverer than the customer. He gets what he asks for, not what you think he wants. Who do you think you are?” he queried.
He was asking, so I told him. “I’m a writer,” I stated.
“And I’m the Oxford University Press.”
I laughed because I thought he meant me to. “No you aren’t,” I contradicted.
“That’s right,” he stressed, and stuck his red face up against mine.
Elsewhere in the twelve-page story we find advise, affirm, applaud, warned, counselled, countermanded, deduced, rebuked, inquired, dismissed, asserted, entreated, interrogated, announced, clamoured, vociferated, denied, sued, acclaimed, directed, enunciated, relished, bleated, fathomed, predicted, prognosticated, heralded, prefaced, gainsaid, and nuncupated. Nuncupated!
It is virtually impossible to read the story and not be aware of this strategy. Given Campbell’s obvious competence and the story’s self-conscious theme and manifest irony, most readers would quickly get in on the joke. But in the introduction to Waking Nightmares (1992), a collection that features the story, Campbell reports an exception:
“Next Time You’ll Know Me” can be read as some kind of response to my being sent unsolicited manuscripts. It appeared in Douglas Winter’s Prime Evil, where one of those copy-editors whom writers abhor tried to change all the narrator’s said-bookisms into “said.”
From an editorial point of view this is an understandable impulse, but it should have gone no further. Automatically changing each synonym to said broke the cardinal rule of editing, what I’ve called the Typographic Oath: First, do no harm. It’s vital to understand an author’s intent before reflexively applying a rule. (Campbell sent me the style sheet he includes with his work nowadays. I imagine it saves on stetting.)
*
The aversion to said so common in novice fiction-writing is mirrored by the avoidance of wrote in academia, where dialogue becomes cited research and nothing is ever written if it can be stated, related, indicated, argued, asserted, affirmed, outlined, found, revealed, noted, believed, suggested, stressed, posited, proposed, contended, claimed, explained, maintained, highlighted, emphasised, or acknowledged.
This is less of a problem in non-fiction prose because readers don’t expect to lose themselves in a story; instead they follow arguments, consider evidence, and so on. Here, words like argued and claimed can add a useful or necessary nuance. Variety can lend style and finesse to an information-heavy text. But it can also make it overworked and stodgy, grating on readers and interfering with the points being made.
Care and judgement are needed, not mechanical use of argued this, highlighted that. Not everything can be highlighted, and not everything should be argued. Some word choices don’t even make sense: I see advocate creeping into unedited scholarly writing, not in the standard sense of supporting or recommending something, but as a fancyism for argue or claim: ‘The authors advocated that their research shows…’
State is particularly popular: the academic writing I see describes authors as stating things perhaps more often than any analogous verb. Yet state is stiff and stilted, connoting (if it’s not denoting) something expressed very formally, such as a declaration. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English Usage says – yes, says! – that its files contain ‘little evidence’ of the use of state for say, but my files contain small mountains of it.
Some people might find said too informal, or suggestive of speech rather than writing unless the context shows otherwise (which it usually would). But I think said is OK here, and more natural than stated. The usage is normal in books and has long been so; the OED’s primary sense of say includes ‘in wider sense, used of an author or a book, with quoted words as object’.
In fiction, said is your best friend. Pick up any novel by an accomplished writer and scan the dialogue: it’s said, said, said all the way, with the occasional asked for questions. Ramsey Campbell’s story, where alternatives were integral, is the exception. If you find yourself reading, as I did, a published story with murmured used unselfconsciously three times on one page, and again on the next, you begin to feel that the writer isn’t paying attention. So why should you?
[A version of this post appears in Offpress, newsletter of the Society of Editors (Queensland) Inc.]
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1.People made these statements. Report them, using said.
a. “Mary works in a bank”, Jane said.
She said (that) Mary worked in a bank
b. “I’m staying with some friends”, Jim said.
Jim said (that) he was staying with some friends
c. “I’ve never been to Russia”, Mike said.
Mike said (that) he had never been to Russia
d. “Tom can’t use a computer”, Ella said.
Ellen said (that) Tom couldn´t use a computer
e. “Everybody must try to do their best”, Jill said.
Jill said (that) everybody had to try to their best
f. “Jane may move to a new flat”, Rachel said
Rachel said (that )Jane might move to a new flat
g. “I’ll stay at home on Sunday”, Bill said.
Bill said (that) he would stay at home on Sunday
2. Change the following statements into the reported speech.
a. “I have something to show you”, I said to her.
I said to her / I told her that I had something to show her.
c. “I’ve been in London for a month but I haven’t had time to visit the Tower”, said Rupert.
Rupert said that he had been in London for a month but he hadn´t had time to visit theTtower
d. “I’ll come with you as soon as I’m ready”, she replied.
She replied that she would come with me as soon as she was ready
e. “We have a lift but very often it doesn’t work”, they said.
They said that they had a lift but very often didn´t work
f. “I must go to the dentist tomorrow”, he said.
He said that he had to go to the dentist the following day
g. “I found an old Roman coin in the garden yesterday and I am going to take it to the museum this afternoon”, he said.
He said that he had found an old Roman coin in the garden the day before/the previous day and that he was going to take it to the museum that afternoon
3. Write these sentences in indirect speech.
a. “I’m very tired”, she said.
She said that she was very tired
b. “I’ll see them soon”, he said.
He said that he would see them soon
c. “I’m going to the cinema”, she said.
She said that she was going to the cinema
d. “I see the children quite often”, he said .
He said that he saw the children quite often
e. “I’m having a bath”, she said.
She said that she was having a bath
f. “I’ve already met their parents”, she said.
She said that she had already met their parents
g. “I stayed in a hotel for a few weeks”, she said.
She said that she had stayed in a hotel for three weeks.
h. “I must go home to make dinner”, he said.
He said that he had to go home to make dinner.
-
“I haven’t been waiting long”, she said.
She said that she hadn´t been waiting long
j. “I’m listening to the radio”, he said.
She said that she was listening to the radio
l. “I like swimming, dancing and playing tennis”, he said.
He said that he liked swimming
m. “I can drive”, she said.
He said he could drive
n. “I walked home after the party”, he said
He said that he had walked home after the party
o. “I’m going to be sick”, she said. She said that she was going to be sick
p. “I must go out to post a letter”, he said
He said that he had to go out to post a letter
q. “I spoke to Jane last week”, she said.
She said that she had spoken to Jane the previous week /the week before
r. “I’m trying to listen to the music”, he said.
He said that he was trying to listen to the music
s. “I’ll phone the office from the airport”, she said.
She said that she would phone the office from the airport.
t. “I can’t speak any foreign languages”, he said.
He said that he couldn´t speak any foreign languages
4. Write these sentences in indirect speech, changing words where necessary.
a. “I’ll see you tomorrow”, she said.
She said that she would see me the following day/the day after/the next day
b. “I saw her today”, he said.
He said that he had seen her that day
c. “I don’t like this film”, she said.
She said that he didn´t like that film
d. She said, “We went swimming today.”
She said that they had gone swimming that day.
e. “I met her about three months ago”, he said. He said that he had met her about three months before
f. “I’ll see Mary on Sunday”, she said.
She said she had seen Mary on Sunday
g. “Pete and Sue are getting married tomorrow”, she said.
She said that Pete and Sue were getting married the following day/the day after/ the next day
h. “Stephen’s bringing some records to the party tomorrow”, she said.
She said that Stephen was bringing some records to the party the following day/the day after/ the next day.
-
“I really like this furniture”, she said.
-
She said She really liked that furniture
j. “My parents are arriving tomorrow”, she said.
She said that her parents were arriving the following day/the day after/ the next day.
k. “We visited her this morning” they said.
They said that they had visited her that morning
l. “We’ll see her next summer” they said.
They said that they would see her the following summer
m. “They were here three months ago”, he said. He said that they had been there three months before
n. “I’m meeting them at four o’clock today”, he said.
He said he was meeting them at four o´clock that day
o. “I can see you tomorrow”, she said.
She said that she could see me the following day/the day after/ the next day.
QUESTIONS
1. Report the police-officer’s questions to the shop owner.
a. What’s your name?
He asked him/her what his/her name was
b. Did you see the robbers?
He asked him/her if/whether he/she had seen the robbers
d. How do you think they got in?
He asked him how he thought they had got in
e. What did they take?
He asked him what they had taken
2. Write these sentences as reported questions using the words given.
a. “What’s your name?”, he asked. (wanted to know)
He wanted to know what my name was.
b. “Do you like Marlon Brandon?”, she asked.
She asked me if/whether I liked Marlon Brando
c. “How old are you?”, she said. (asked)
She asked me how old I was
d. “When does the train leave?”, I asked.
I asked them /him /her when the train left
e. “Are you enjoying yourself?”, he asked.
He asked me if /whether I was enjoying myself
f. “How are you?”, he said. (asked)
He asked me how I was.
g. “Does your father work here?”, she asked.
She asked me if/whether my father worked there
h. “Do you live near your father?”, he asked.
He asked me if I lived near my father
-
“Who did you see at the meeting?”, my mother asked.
My mother asked me who I had seen at the meeting
j. “Why did you take my wallet?”, he asked.
He asked me why I had taken his wallet
. “How did you get to school?”, she asked.
She asked me /us how I had got to school
l. “Are you a foreigner?”, she asked.
She asked me if I was a foreigner
n. “Have you met Danny before?”, he asked
He asked me if I had met Danny before
o. “Are you hungry?”, he asked.
He asked me if I was hungry
p. “Why wasn’t Judy at the party?”, she asked.
She asked me why Judy hadn´t been at the party
q. “Why didn’t you telephone?”, my father asked.
My father asked me why I hadn´t telephoned.
r. “Did you borrow my dictionary?”, he asked.
He asked me if I had borrowed his dictionary
s. “Why are you so late?”, the teacher asked.
The teacher asked me why I was so late
t. “Have you finished your exams?”, she asked.
She asked me if I had finished my exams
u. “Did you invite Judy and Mitch?”, he asked.
He asked me if I had invited Judy and Mitch
v. “Does your brother live in London?”, she asked.
She asked me if my brother lived in London.
w. “Why didn’t the police report the crime?”, the judge asked.
The judge asked me why I hadn´t reported the crime.
x. “Do you know who broke the window?”, he asked.
a. “Make some coffee, Bob”, Carol said.(ask)
Carol asked (pediulle)Bob to make some coffee
b. “You must do the homework soon, Jane”, she said.(tell)
She told Jane to do the homework soon
c. “Remember to buy a map, Ann” he said.(remind)
He reminded Ann to buy a map
d. “You should see a doctor, Mrs Clark”, he said.(advise)
He advised Mrs Clark to see a doctor
e. “Keep all the windows closed, Bill” they said.(warn)
They warned Bill to keep all the windows closed
f. “Go home, Paul”, Francis said.(tell)
Francis told Paul to go home
g. “Please stay for supper, Bob”, he asked
He asked Bob to stay for supper
2. Report the following sentences.
a. “Don’t try to be funny.”
She told me not to try to be funny
b. “Wait here till I come.”
He told me to wait there till I came.
c. “Go to bed and don’t get up till you’re called.”
He told me /ordered me to go to bed and not to get till I was called
d. “Be a good girl and sit quietly for five minutes.”
He asked me to be a good girl and to sit quietly for five minutes.
e. “Watch the milk and don’t let it boil over.”
She told me to watch the milk and not to let it boil over.
f. “Don’t take your coat off.”
He told /ordered/warned me not to take off my coat
g. “Don’t forget to thank Mrs Jones when you’re saying good bye to her.”
He reminded me to thank Mrs Jones when I was saying good bye to her.
h. “Stop that dog.”
She warned me to stop that dog
3. Write the sentences in reported speech using the words given.
a. “Sit down, Mary.” (he told)
he told Mary to sit down
b. “Would you pass my suitcase?” (he asked)
He asked me to pass his suitcase
c. “Don’t go near the sea, children.” (the children’s mother warned)
The children´s mother warned her children not to go near the sea
d. “Don’t be late, Tim.” (Tim’s father told)
Tim´s father told Tim not to be late
e. “Be quiet, children.” (the librarian told)
The librarian told the children to be quiet
SAY AND TELL
4. Use the correct form of SAY and TELL in these sentences.
a. She told me she didn’t agree.
b. He said “Have we met before?”
c. I told them I wasn’t happy with their work.
d. She smiled and said to me, “I’m very pleased to meet you.”
e. She told me a story about her parents.
f. He said, “Are you feeling OK?”
g. I didn’t hear. What did he say?
h. Could you tell me the time, please?
i. They told me they were going to a meeting.
j. I told the police my address.
k. I said I wanted to buy a magazine.
OFFERS AND SUGGESTIONS
5. Rewrite the sentences with the gerund or the infinitive and the in reported speech.
a. “I’ll bring my CDs to the party.”
He promised to bring his CDs to the party.
b. “Let’s go to the cinema tonight, shall we?
She suggested going to the cinema
She suggested that we go to the cinema
c. “Yes, I stole the wallet.”
He admitted having stolen the wallet
d. “Be careful! The water is boiling.”
She warned us to be careful because the water was boiling
e. “You must apologise to your teacher.”
My father insisted (on) me apologising to my teacher
f. “All right! I’ll share the expenses with you.”
My friend agreed to share the expenses with me
g. “Let´s go out for a coffee” She said
She suggested going out for a coffe
She suggested that we go out for a coffee
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√ Passive.
√ It is said that…
√ He is said to…
√ (be) supposed to…
Passive voice is used in construction with Complex Subject to tell the information we are not sure.
Пассивный залог используется в конструкции с сложным существительным, чтобы сообщить информацию, в которой мы не уверены.
It is said that… He is said to… (be) supposed to…
A. Study this example situation:
Nikolay is a good man. Not everybody knows exactly that Nikolay is a good man, but:
It is said that Nikolay is a good man. or Nikolay is said to be a good man.
Both these sentences mean (Оба предложения обозначают): ‘People say that Nikolay is a good man.’
These structures can be used with a number of such verbs as (Эти структуры могут быть использованы с рядом таких глаголов, как):
| thought believed considered reported known expected alleged understood |
думал верят считается сообщается известно ожидается предполагается понимают |
Сравните эти две структуры:
— Jane studies very hard.
It is said that she studies 12 hours a day. or She is said to study 12 hours a day.
— The police are looking for a missing grandmother.
It is believed that the grandmother is wearing a brown blazer and blue scirt.
The grandmother is believed to be wearing a brown blazer and blue scirt.
— The exams started two weeks ago.
It is expected that the exams will end soon. or The exams are expected to end soon
— A friend of my wife’s has been awarded.
It is alleged that she was awarded. or She is alleged to have been awarded.
— Those two houses belong to the same family.
It is said that there is a bunker under them. There is said to be a bunker under them.
These structures are often used in news reports. For example, in a report about an accident . (Эти структуры часто используются в информационных сообщениях. Например, в отчете об аварии):
— It is reported that two people were injured in the explosion. or Two people are reported to have been injured in the explosion.
B. (Be) supposed to
Sometimes it is supposed to … = it is said to…
— Let’s go and listen to the musical show. It’s supposed to be very good. (= it is said to be very good)
— ‘Why was he awarded?’ ‘He’s supposed to have made a new computer programm.’ (= he is said to have made a new computer programm)
But sometimes supposed to has a different meaning. (Но иногда supposed, имеет различное значение) ‘Something is supposed to happen’ = it is planned, arranged or expected. Often this is different from what really happens (Часто это отличается от того, что в действительности происходит):
— I’d better hurry. It’s nearly 7 o’clock and I’m supposed to be meeting my wife Olga at 7.15. (= I have arranged to meet Ann, I said I would meet her)
— The train was supposed to arrive at 12.30 but it was half an hour late. (= the train was expected to arrive at 12.30 according to the timetable)
— Vlad was supposed to clean the house. Why didn’t he do it?
‘You’re not supposed to do something’ = it is not allowed or advisable for you to do it:
— You’re not supposed to cheat at the exam here. It’s the exam.
— Mr. Brown is much better after his accident but he’s still not supposed to do any work. (= his doctors have advised him not to …)
EXERCISES
1 Write these sentences in another way, beginning as shown. Use the underlined word in your sentence.
1. It is _expected_ that the strike will end soon. The strike _is expected to end soon._
2. It is _expected_ that the weather will be good tomorrow. The weather is —
3. It is _believed_ that the thieves got in through the kitchen window. The thieves —
4. It is _reported_ that many people are homeless after the floods. Many people —
5. It is _thought_ that the prisoner escaped by climbing over a wall. The prisoner —
6. It is _alleged_ that the man drove through the town at 90 miles an hour. The man is —
7. It is _reported_ that the building has been badly damaged by fire. The building —
8. a: It is _said_ that the company is losing a lot of money. The company —
b: It is _believed_ that the company lost a lot of money last year. The company —
c: It is _expected_ that the company will lose money this year. The company —
2 People say a lot of things about Arthur. For example:
1 Arthur cats spiders.
2 He is very rich.
3. (He writes poetry.
4. (He has 12 children.)
5. (He robbed a bank a long time ago.
Nobody knows for sure whether these things are true or not. Write sentences about Arthur using (be) supposed to.
1. Arthur is supposed to eat spiders.
2. He —
3. —
4. —
5. —
3 Now you have to use (be) supposed to with its other meaning. In each example what happens is different from what is supposed to happen.
Use (be) supposed to + one of these verbs:
arrive /be /block /come /park /phone /start
Some of the sentences are negative (like the first example).
1. You_’re not suppose to park_ here. It’s private parking only.
2. The train _was supposed to arrive_ at 11.30, but it was an hour late.
3. What are the children doing at home? They — at school at this time.
4. We — work at 8.15, but we rarely do anything before 8.30.
5. This door is a fire exit. You — it.
6. Oh dear! I — Ann but I completely forgot.
7. They arrived very early—at 2 o’clock. They — until 3.30.
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