- Hello! Welcome to Six Minute Vocabulary with me, Katherine. - And me, Neil.

In this program, we're looking at reporting verbs.

They are verbs that we use when we talk about what someone else has said.

So verbs like "suggest," "deny" and "insist."

Let's start by listening to Simon and Simon is a political news reporter.

And while you're listening to Simon's news report, here's a question for you to think about.

Why did the Minister lie in her previous interview?

In a previous interview, the minister had denied knowing anything about the scandal.

However, she later apologized for saying this and admitted that she had lied.

She insisted that she had not intended to cause any harm and suggested that it had been necessary to protect certain important public figures.

When advised to reconsider her position, she had initially demanded to know why, but eventually offered to resign.

We asked why did the minister lie in her previous interview?

And the answer is, she suggested that it had been necessary to protect certain important public figures.

Scandal. Now it's interesting that the report uses the verb "suggested," so why didn't Simon use "said?" She said that?

Well, "suggested" tells us that the minister said it, but not in a very strong or direct way and that's because she didn't want to embarrass the important public figures.

And that's an example of why reporting verbs are useful.

We can always use "say," "tell" or "ask," but other reporting verbs express slightly different meanings and attitudes.

Yes, they do.

So reporting verbs make your writing or speaking more accurate and more interesting, too.

Now, listen for more reporting verbs in this clip.

In a previous interview, the minister had denied knowing anything about the scandal.

However, she later apologized for saying this and admitted that she had lied.

So we heard "denied knowing anything."

"Denied" has a negative meaning.

It means she said she didn't know anything about the scandal.

Yes, but then she apologized for saying this.

She said she was sorry for saying this.

And lastly she admitted that she had lied.

"Admit" is the opposite of "deny."

It means you say that something is true.

We usually use "admit" when someone has to say that something is true although they would prefer not to.

And now on to the next clip.

She insisted that she had not intended to cause any harm and suggested that it had been necessary to protect certain important public figures.

We heard the verb "insisted."

To insist means to say something strongly, especially when other people say something different.

Yes. So the minister said strongly that it was incorrect that she'd intended to cause harm.

Now we've already looked at the verb "suggest," but it's worth noticing that "insist," "suggest" and "admit" are all followed by a "that clause" in the news report.

Yes. So for example, she suggested that it had been necessary.

But we often leave the word "that" out so - she suggested it had been necessary.

Other reporting verbs have different patterns.

Some verbs are followed by a verb plus i-n-g.

Such as "deny."

And some are followed by to plus an infinitive.

And you'll hear three examples of this in our final clip.

When advised to reconsider her position, she had initially demanded to know why but eventually offered to resign.

Right. We heard "advised," which means "told" but in a polite or indirect way.

And "demanded," which means "asked" in a slightly aggressive way.

And finally she offered to resign.

So she said that she was willing to resign if that's what people wanted.

It's quiz time.

Which three reporting verbs from the show today can you use instead of "said" in these sentences?

Number one. I didn't believe her at first but she "said" that it was true.

It's "insisted." She "insisted" that it was true.

That's right. Well done.

Number two. When questioned by the police the boy said that he had stolen the car.

So the boy "admitted" that he had stolen the car.

Number three. Several people have said that there's a possibility that the actor's marriage might be in trouble.

And the answer is "suggested."

It is! And that's the end of the quiz.

Congratulations if you got them all right.

Well done indeed and finally here's a top tip to help you learn new words more quickly.

Keep a list of reporting verbs and study their meanings.

When you're writing, every time you use the words "said," "asked" or "told," check your list to see if there's a different verb that you can use in that context to add variety to your english.

And there's more about this at bbclearningenglish.com

Join us again soon for more Six Minute Vocabulary.

Bye.