The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

Passive voice with reporting verbs

If we want to avoid mentioning the generalised agents we, they, people, everybody, one etc. with reporting verbs, we can use the following passive patterns:

it + passive reporting verb + that-clause

In this pattern, the generalised agent + active reporting verb is replaced with it + passive reporting verb:Everybody knows that my grandfather likes red wine.

It is known that my grandfather likes red wine.

subject + passive reporting verb + to-infinitive

In this pattern we start with the subject of the reported clause, which is followed by the passive reporting verb and the to-infinitive form of the verb in the reported clause:Everybody knows that my grandfather likes red wine.

My grandfather is known to like red wine.

The reporting verb (is known) is in the same tense as it was in the active sentence (knows). The type of to-infinitive we use (to like) corresponds to the temporal relationship between the action of reporting and the reported event. This temporal relationship can be of two basic types:

The reporting and the reported event happen simultaneously (as in the example above).

The reported event happens before the reporting.

Examples of reporting verbs which can be used with the patterns above:

allege, assume, believe, claim, consider, declare, discover, estimate, expect, feel, find, intend, know, observe, presume, prove, report, reveal, say, see, show, suppose, think, understand

Reporting a simultaneous event in the passive voice

SUBJECT + PASSIVE REPORTING VERB + TO-INFINITIVE (SIMPLE OR CONTINUOUS)

If the reporting and the reported event happen simultaneously, in the same time frame, we use simple or continuous infinitives, depending on whether the verb in the reported clause was simple or continuous.

If the time frame is the present:

My son's football coach

is said to be

very strict.

(They

say

my son's football coach

is

very strict.)

J. K. Rowling

is rumoured to be writing

a new book.

(Rumour

has

it that J. K. Rowling

is writing

a new book.)

If the time frame is the past:

Paul

was thought to be

in the house.

(Everybody

thought

Paul

was

in the house.)

Vincent

was reported to be staying

in Paris at that time.

(They

reported

Vincent

was staying

in Paris at that time.

In the following examples, the verb in the reported clause of the original sentence was passive, so we use passive infinitives in the new sentence.

If the time frame is the present:

The manuscript

is believed to be owned

by Mr Wilkins.

(They

believe

the manuscript

is owned

by Mr Wilkins. / They

believe

Mr Wilkins

owns

the manuscript.)

The painting

is said to be being restored

.

(rarely used) (They

say

the painting

is being restored

. / They

say

that some experts

are restoring

the painting.)

If the time frame is the past:

The money

was thought to be provided

by a private foundation.

(They

thought

the money

was provided

by a private foundation. / They

thought

a private foundation

provided

the money.)

The spy's phone

was believed to be being tapped

.

(rarely used) (The CIA

believed

that the spy's phone

was being tapped

. / The CIA

believed

that someone

was tapping

the spy's phone.)

Reporting an earlier event in the passive voice

SUBJECT + PASSIVE REPORTING VERB + TO-INFINITIVE (PERFECT OR PERFECT CONTINUOUS)

If the reported event happens before the reporting, we use perfect or perfect continuous infinitives, depending on whether the verb in the reported clause was simple or continuous.

If the reporting happens in the present and the reported event in the past:

He

is believed never to have smiled

at anyone.

(They

believe

he

never smiled / has never smiled

at anyone.)

She

is known to have been writing

songs for years.

(They

know

she

has been writing / was writing

songs for years.)

If the reporting happens in the past and the reported event in an earlier past:

Lucy

was assumed to have left

the day before.

(They

assumed

Lucy

had left

the day before.)

The organisers

were thought to have been preparing

for days.

(Everybody

thought

the organisers

had been preparing

for days.)

In the following examples, the verb in the reported clause of the original sentence was passive, so we use passive infinitives in the new sentence.

If the reporting happens in the present and the reported event in the past:

The picture

is known to have been painted

by Caspar David Friedrich.

(They

know

that the picture

was painted / has been painted

by Caspar David Friedrich. / They

know

that Caspar David Friedrich

painted / has painted

the picture.)

The picture

is believed to have been being painted

for years.

(rarely used) (They

believe

that the picture

was being painted / has been being painted

for years. / They

believe

that the artist

was painting / has been painting

the picture for years.)

If the reporting happens in the past and the reported event in an earlier past:

The documents

were claimed to have been signed

by the CEO.

(They

claimed

that the documents

had been signed

by the CEO. / They

claimed

that the CEO

had signed

the documents.)

The tree

was reported to have been being chopped

when the accident happened.

(rarely used) (The investigators

reported

that the tree

had been being chopped

when the accident happened. / The investigators

reported

that the woodcutters

had been chopping

the tree when the accident happened.)

Related topics:

Indirect speech

The forms of the infinitive