[Grammar] report (on) something

[kadioguy]

The crash happened seconds after the pilot reported engine trouble.

The committee will report on its research next month.

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/report_2
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What is the difference in meaning between "report something" and "report on something"?

a. The crash happened seconds after the pilot reported engine trouble.

b. The crash happened seconds after the pilot reported on engine trouble. (my variation)

c. The committee will report on its research next month.

d. The committee will report its research next month. (my variation)
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(From another forum)

I'm not sure there's any big difference here, but "report on" does a better job of saying that this person puts together a complete report about the problem. "To report" a problem may mean that you do nothing more than tell somebody that there is a problem.

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/report-on-report.3242756/
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Do you agree with him?

 

[5jj]

a. The crash happened seconds after the pilot reported engine trouble.

b. The crash happened seconds after the pilot reported on engine trouble. (my variation)

"To report" a problem may mean that you do nothing more than tell somebody that there is a problem.Do you agree with him?

Yes. That is precisely what the pilot did.

 

[jutfrank]

I'd say that there's a big difference in meaning and use.

report something (to somebody) is used when 'something' is a single piece of information to be related to a relevant authority. The dictionary example is a good example. Another good example is Have you reported the theft to the police?

report on something is used when 'something' is a situation or set of events, and there are many details to be related concerning this situation. This is what a news journalist does when she is sent to cover a story. I was in Japan to report on the Summer Olympics.

So you can't use on in the original sentence (i.e. your sentence b.) from post #1. The dictionary sentence c. is not a very clear example of use.