English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate » Unit 45: Speaking

Word List
  • angrily
  • anxiously
  • argue
  • beg
  • bitterly
  • boast
  • cheerfully
  • complain
  • confess
  • desperately
  • furiously
  • gladly
  • gloomily
  • groan
  • grumble
  • happily
  • hopefully
  • insist
  • maintain
  • miserably
  • mumble
  • murmur
  • mutter
  • nervously
  • object v
  • sadly
  • scream
  • shout
  • shriek
  • stammer
  • stutter
  • threaten
  • urge
  • whisper
Exercises

45.1 ‣ Choose a verb from A opposite to fit the meaning of the sentences.

  1. ‘Oh, noooooooooo!!!!!!’ she in absolute terror
  2. ‘Don't look now, but Matt has just arrived,’ she _____ in my ear.
  3. ‘Joey! Come here at once!!’ his mother _____.
  4. ‘I d-d-d-did it,’ he _____.
  5. ‘I'm sick of this meeting. I'm going home,’ he _____.
  6. ‘Oh, that's so, so funny!’ she _____ with laughter.
  7. ‘There's a spider!!!’ she _____.
  8. ‘Stop _____! I can't hear what you're saying,’ she said.
  9. ‘I think we should leave now. It's late,’ he _____ quietly.

45.2 ‣ Match the sentence beginnings on the left with the endings on the right.

  1. He always maintained
  2. He groaned _____
  3. They threatened _____
  4. She complained _____
  5. He begged me _____
  6. She insisted _____
  1. a) to cancel my parking permit.
  2. b) not to leave, but I had to.
  3. c) on using recycled paper for everything.
  4. d) that he could read people's minds.
  5. e) that he needed a doctor immediately.
  6. f) about the noise coming from above.

45.3 ‣ Add a reporting verb and one of the adverbs from the box to each sentence. Where possible, use reporting verbs from A.

  1. angrily
  2. bitterly
  3. impatiently
  4. happily
  5. hopefully
  6. anxiously
  7. sadly
  8. excitedly
  1. Milly: ‘You must pay attention!’
  2. Andrew: ‘I feel much better today, thank you.’
    _____
  3. Petra: ‘Oh wow! I've just won a prize in a competition!’
    _____
  4. Leo: ‘I will never forgive them for what they did.’
    _____
  5. Lily: ‘This is our last day together. I'll miss you.’
    _____
  6. Rory: ‘I'm very worried. She said she would phone us.’
    _____
  7. Kallum: ‘Oh, come on! Do hurry up! Let's go! Now!.’
    _____
  8. Anna: ‘We may be lucky and the rain might stop.’
    _____

45.4 ‣ Rewrite the sentences using the verbs in brackets.

  1. Don't exaggerate your talents to your friends. They'll stop liking you. (boast)
  2. I'm not happy with having to sit on the floor. I paid for a seat. (object)
    _____
  3. Stop being discontented with your job all the time. (grumble)
    _____
  4. LeoHe talked about refusing to pay and calling the police. (threaten)
    _____
  5. She asked if we would help her. (beg)
    _____
  6. He admitted that he had broken the window. (confess) (two answers)
    _____
Answer Key
A ‣ Reporting verbs

We can use these verbs to report people's speech and how they speak (including how loudly and what their mood is).

verbloudnessmost likely mood
whispervery softtelling someone a secret*
murmursoftromantic or complaining
mumblesoft (and unclear)nervous or insecure
muttersoftirritated
shoutloudangry or excited
screamloud (usually without words)frightened or excited
shriekloud (and shrill)frightened or amused
stutter, stammerneutralnervous or excited**

* People also whisper in places where it would be impolite to speak loudly.
** Stuttering and stammering may also be the result of a speech impediment.

‘I’m sick of this. I’m going home,’ he muttered.

Suddenly, someone shouted ‘Help!’

She whispered that she was not happy with the way the meeting was going.

B ‣ Describing feelings

These verbs indicate the speaker's feelings or intentions. (sb = somebody, sth = something)

verbpatternsfeeling
boastto sb about sthproud of yourself
insiston sthdetermined
objectto + -ingunhappy with a situation
threatento do sthaggressive
arguewith sb about sthnot in agreement
groanthatdespair, pain
complainto sb about sthdispleased
maintainthatconfident
confessto + -ingrepentant
urgesb to do sthencouraging
begsb to do sthdesperate
grumbleabout sthdispleased

C ‣ Adverbs related to speech

To indicate someone's feelings, you can use a speaking verb plus an adverb. For example,

'He said anxiously.'  'She spoke angrily.' This is common in written style.

If somebody feels angry: angrily     furiously     bitterly

If somebody feels unhappy: gloomily     miserably     sadly

If somebody feels happy: happily     cheerfully     gladly     hopefully

If somebody feels worried: anxiously     nervously     desperately

Other useful adverbs: excitedly, impatiently, reluctantly, shyly.

Language help

Most of the verbs in B above can also be used with a that clause.

She boasted that she had scored 20 goals in one season.
He threatened (that) he would call the police.

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