Advanced passives review
Look at these examples to see how the passive voice is used.
The interview was recorded yesterday.
Cleaner sources of energy must be developed.
An electrical fault is believed to have caused the power cut.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Grammar explanation
We can use the passive voice to change the focus of the sentence.
Aliya Monier directed the film.
(focus on Aliya Monier)The film was directed by Aliya Monier.
(focus on The film)
We often use the passive:
- so that we can start a sentence with the most important or most logical information
- when we prefer not to mention who or what does the action (for example, it's not known, it's obvious or we don't want to say)
- in more formal or scientific writing.
Be + past participle
The most common way to form the passive is subject + be + past participle.
The new smoke alarm was installed yesterday.
The 'doer' of the action is called the agent. Most of the time, the agent is not mentioned, but if important, the agent can be mentioned using the preposition by.
The new smoke alarm was installed yesterday by the company director herself.
We can also use the passive voice with modal verbs such as can, must and should, by using modal + be + past participle.
A podcast can be made with minimal resources.
The accident must be reported to the police.
New laws should be created to regulate electric scooters.
The passive with get
In informal English, get is sometimes used instead of be to form the passive.
My bicycle got stolen last night.
(= My bicycle was stolen last night.)
The impersonal passive
The impersonal passive is used with reporting verbs such as allege, believe, claim, consider, estimate, expect, know, report, say, think, understand, etc. It reports what an unspecified group of people say or believe.
The impersonal passive has two forms:
it + be + past participle + (that) + subject + verb:
It is estimated that millions of people visit the site every year.
It is believed that the walls date from the third century BCE.
It is reported that mosquitoes transmit the disease.
someone/something + be + past participle + infinitive:
Millions of people are estimated to visit the site every year.
The walls are believed to date from the third century BCE.
Mosquitoes are reported to transmit the disease.
Note that the infinitive can be simple (as above), perfect (for a past action) or continuous (for an action in progress).
Millions are estimated to visit the site this year. (simple infinitive)
The walls are believed to have been built in the third century BCE. (perfect infinitive)
Mosquitoes are reported to be transmitting the disease. (continuous infinitive)
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Insightful.
Hi EnglishLearn team.
Could you explain the last answer for grammar test 2?
First, look at the note at the bottom of the theory
"Note that the infinitive can be simple (as above), perfect (for a past action) or continuous (for an action in progress)."
Now look at the original sentence: 'robber escaped' is in the past tense.
That means you need to use the perfect after 'to'."
Hello Dear.
I'd like to confirm that If both these answers are right in this case?
5. Experts estimate that 1.35 billion people speak English. _____ speak English.
1.35 billion people are estimated to
It is estimated that 1.35 billion people
(I added a letter of “d” behind estimate)
Thanks a lot.
Hello Yolandal,
Yes, both of those are possible.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi!
I did the grammar test 2 and I don´t get it why the correct answer is were said to come. Could you explain it to me?
8. People said the creatures came out at night. The creatures _____ out at night.
are said to have come
were come
were said to come
Thanks :)
Hello Mimi_33,
This is a passive construction using a reporting verb and a dummy subject (it). You could add a 'by...' construction but of course it would be 'by people' and so would sound very unnatural:
People said that...
It is said that... (by people)
Other reporting verbs function in a similar way, including believed, claimed, thought, hoped and so on.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello,
I try to answer your question based on my own reason. I choose "were said to come", because I think the choice
"were come" is not complete, so its not correct;
"are said to have come", the word have is not needed;
so the best answer is were said to come.
For it to be:
The creatures are said to have come out at night...
The original would need to be:
People say the creatures have come out at night.
Because the sentence is “people SAID” , so it’s a past action, you can’t really use present in passive when you have a verb that is clearly past.