Reported speech · CEFR C1 · Fluent

admit, deny, suggest, promise in English

Instead of "said", a precise verb reports what the speaker was doing — and each one demands its own pattern after it.

The shape

admit + -ing · promise + to · suggest + -ing · warn + against

Report the meaning of what was said, not only the words.

In Hindi

"said" की जगह सटीक क्रिया बताती है कि वक्ता कर क्या रहा था — और हर क्रिया का अपना ढाँचा होता है।

CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.

The mistake to fix first

The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.

Commonly saidCorrect English

He denied to take the money.

He denied taking the money.

"Deny" takes -ing; "refuse" is the one that takes "to".

Learn these first

These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.

Questions people ask

What is the admit, deny, suggest, promise used for?
Instead of "said", a precise verb reports what the speaker was doing — and each one demands its own pattern after it. In practice: report the meaning of what was said, not only the words.
How do you form the admit, deny, suggest, promise?
admit + -ing · promise + to · suggest + -ing · warn + against.
What is the most common mistake with the admit, deny, suggest, promise?
Saying “He denied to take the money.” instead of “He denied taking the money.”. "Deny" takes -ing; "refuse" is the one that takes "to".

Where admit, deny, suggest, promise fits

Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.

admit, deny, suggest, promise is a CEFR C1 structure — the fluent band — and it belongs to reported speech. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.

Reading it is not the same as saying it.

CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.

Practise the admit, deny, suggest, promise

CoCap · Free English practice for India · About · Contact