The Passive: Complex Passive Forms

Reporting with the passive

• We often use It and a passive form of a reporting verb (e.g. suggest, say, believe, think, report, rumour) with a that-clause, in formal situations, to report opinions and beliefs.
  • It has been suggested that it was caused by secret experiments.
  • It was reported that the remains of an alien spaceship had been found.
• We can also use a passive form of many reporting verbs (e.g. believe, say, think, rumour, understand, expect) with the to-infinitive.
  • The truth is now believed to be a little less exciting.
  • She was thought to know the truth.
• To report earlier events in this way, use to + have + past participle.
  • A UFO was said to have crashed to the ground.
  • The explosion is thought to have been caused by a comet entering our atmosphere.
• A few verbs (e.g. suggest, decide, recommend and announce) cannot be used in this way.
  • It was announced that the company is going to close. NOT The company was announced to be going to close.
• To rumour is only possible in the passive.
  • It was rumoured that a UFO had been found. NOT People rumoured that a UFO had been found.

There + be + subject + past participle

• We sometimes use There at the start of a passive sentence to emphasize an indefinite subject.
  • There were no people killed. OR No people were killed.
  • There has been a lot of money invested in alternative energy in the last few years. OR A lot of money has been invested in …
• We don’t use There in this way when there is a definite subject.
  • The Eiffel Tower was built in the nineteenth century. NOT There was the Eiffel Tower built …

Shortened passive structures

• We sometimes use the past participle by itself as an adjective with a passive meaning.
  • a known criminal, the reported crash
• We often use the past participle by itself in newspaper headlines.
  • 80 MILLION TREES DESTROYED (= 80 million trees have been destroyed.)

Have something done and get something done

• We often use have + object + past participle to describe a service which someone does for us.
  • I’m going to have my hair cut this afternoon.
• We sometimes use have + object + past participle when unpleasant things happen to us.
  • Many had their houses damaged.
• We often use get instead of have in informal situations.
  • Do you know anywhere where I can get my car washed?
  • Susana’s upset because she got her bag stolen on the bus this morning.
• We sometimes use get + object + past participle when an activity was difficult to complete for some reason.
  • Doing all the reports took ages but we got them all written in the end. (= … we managed to write them all …)

Verbs with passive meaning

• We sometimes use the verbs need, want, deserve and require + –ing with a passive meaning.
  • An explosion like that obviously needs explaining.
• When we use want in this way, it is very informal.
  • That computer wants looking at. (= The computer needs to be looked at.)

Source: Active Grammar, Level 3, Mark Lloyd and Jeremy Day, CUP, 2011 (With Ramrowriter’s adaptation where necessary)