She told me to…

  • B1 · Intermediate
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min
  • reported commands

Reported instructions and requests: tell or ask + person + (not) to + verb (My manager told me to come in early. She asked me not to park in front.). From an email about the first week at a new job to a cooking class that the student reports to a friend.

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told us toasked me not tonever to

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Reading: my first weekReading comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find the instructionsGrammar exercise
  6. 6Reported instructions and requestsGrammar rule
  7. 7Which report is right?Grammar exercise
  8. 8The driving lessonGrammar exercise
  9. 9Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  10. 10Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
  11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  12. 12The cooking classSpeaking practice
  13. 13About youGrammar exercise
  14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: the water tableGrammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: which is right?Grammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: build the sentencesGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: the rules at homeDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. What was your first job? Who taught you how to do it?
  2. Do you like clear rules at work, or do you prefer to decide things yourself?
  3. Who gives you the most instructions in your life right now?

Grammar rule

Reported instructions and requests

tell / ask + person + (not) to + verb

They saidYou report
"Turn off your phones."Our boss told us to turn off our phones.
"Please close the door." / "Could you close the door?"She asked me to close the door.
"Don't touch the paintings."The guide told us not to touch the paintings.
"Please don't call after nine."He asked me not to call after nine.
"Never swim here alone."She told us never to swim there alone.
  • tell is for instructions and orders. ask is for requests: please…, could you…?, would you…?
  • The person is always there: told me, asked the kids, told everyone.
  • Negative: not to + verb, or never to + verb. American English also says to not: She told me to not worry.
  • After to, always use the base verb: to come, to wear. It never moves back a tense.
  • Pronouns and words like here and this change, as in all reported speech: "your phones" → our phones, "here" → there.
  • In conversation, you will also hear said to + verb with no person: She said to call her. But never said me to.

Watch out

  • She told me don't park here. → She told me not to park there.
  • He asked me help him. → He asked me to help him.
  • She said me to wait. → She told me to wait.
  • They told us to waited. → They told us to wait.

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