Passive structures

Note these passive structures. They are mostly rather formal:

The verbs believe, expect, feel, hope, know, report, say, think etc can be used in the following passive patterns:

People say she is rich.

1. It + passive + that-clause It is said that she is rich.

2. Subject (person) + passive + to-infinitive She is said to be rich.

3. Active object complement → passive subject complement

e.g. The Queen considered him a genius. → He was considered a genius.

e.g. They elected Mrs Robins President. → Mrs Robins was elected President.

e.g. The others call him stupid. → He is called stupid by the others.

e.g. You've made me very happy. → I have been made very happy.

4. Structure with there is: “There is thought I said etc to be...”

e.g. There are thought to be fewer than twenty people still living in the village.

e.g. There were said to be ghosts in the house, but I never heard anything.

3.1 Make these sentences passive, using one of the above structures:

1. People think the government will fall.

2. We appointed Mr Evans secretary.

3. The villagers called her a witch.

4. People believed that fresh air was bad for sick people.

5. Some people say that there are wolves in the mountains.

6. Police think the man holding the hostages is heavily armed.

7. They say he is in an agitated state.

8. Everybody considered her strange.

9. We expect that the rate of inflation will rise.

10. They say he is somewhere in Germany.

3.2 Write these sentences in another way, beginning as shown. Use the underlined word in your sentence:

1. It is expected that the strike will end soon. – The strike is expected to end soon.

2. It is expected that the weather will be good tomorrow. – The weather is ____.

3. It is believed that the thieves got in through the kitchen window. – The thieves ____.

4. It is reported that many people are homeless after the floods. – Many people ____.

5. It is thought that the prisoner escaped by climbing over a wall. – The prisoner ____.

6. It is alleged that the man drove through the town at 90 miles an hour. – The man is ____.

7. It is reported that the building has been badly damaged by fire. – The building ____.

8. a) It is said that the company is losing a lot of money. – The company ____.

b) It is believed that the company lost a lot of money last year. – The company ____.

c) It is expected that the company will lose money this year. – The company ____.

3.3 Turn the following into the Passive as in the example:

1. People expect him to win.

He is expected to win. It is expected that he will win.

2. Journalists have reported that the President is ill.

The President _________________________________

It ___________________________________________

3. Everyone knows that the statement was untrue.

The statement _________________________________

It ___________________________________________

4. Many people believe that the climate is changing.

The climate ___________________________________

It ___________________________________________

5. Everyone knows that he has been in prison.

He __________________________________________

It ___________________________________________________

6. Many people say that the new prices are too high.

The new prices ________________________________

It ___________________________________________

7. They claim that this diamond is the largest in the world.
This diamond _________________________________

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