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Impersonal passive, reporting verbs, have/get something done and other advanced structures.
English has several passive constructions with structures and meanings that go beyond the basic passive pattern.
Important examples include impersonal passives, reporting passives, passive constructions with prepositions, retained objects, and causative structures.
Some verbs can form an impersonal passive with it as the grammatical subject.
For example, It is believed that the company will expand and It is expected that prices will rise.
Reporting verbs can form a personal passive in which the person or thing being reported about becomes the grammatical subject.
For example, He is believed to be innocent and She is thought to have left the country.
The passive expression it is said that introduces information attributed to people in general without naming a specific source.
For example, It is said that the building is haunted.
The pattern subject + be + past participle + to-infinitive is used to report information about a particular subject.
For example, He is said to live abroad and The company is believed to be losing money.
Use a perfect passive reporting structure when the reported event happened before the reporting perspective.
For example, He is believed to have left and She is thought to have been informed.
A range of reporting verbs can occur in impersonal and personal passive constructions.
Common verbs include say, believe, think, know, expect, report, understand, consider, suppose, and rumour.
Impersonal passive reporting structures are useful when information is presented as a general belief, assumption, or report.
For example, It is generally believed that exercise improves health.
Some verbs followed by prepositions can form passive constructions while retaining the preposition.
For example, She was looked after by her sister and The problem was dealt with immediately.
Some phrasal and multi-word verbs can form passive constructions without losing their particles or required prepositions.
For example, The meeting was called off and The child was taken care of by his grandparents.
Ditransitive verbs may allow either object to become the subject of a passive sentence, depending on the verb and construction.
For example, They gave John a job can become John was given a job or A job was given to John.
Some passive constructions retain another object or complement after the passive subject.
For example, John was given a book and She was told the truth.
Complex transitive verbs can form passive constructions in which the object complement remains after the passive verb.
For example, They elected him president becomes He was elected president.
Certain perception verbs can form passive constructions from active structures containing an object and infinitive or participle complement.
For example, They saw him leave can correspond to He was seen to leave, while They saw him leaving can correspond to He was seen leaving.
Causative constructions can combine with passive forms to describe services or actions arranged for a person or thing.
For example, I had my car repaired and She got her hair cut.
Have + object + past participle expresses that the subject arranges for someone else to perform a service or action.
For example, We had the roof repaired and She had her eyes tested.
Get + object + past participle can express arranging for a service or action and is often more informal than have something done.
For example, I need to get my phone repaired and She got her hair cut yesterday.
Have something done and get something done can express similar causative meanings, but get is often more conversational and can suggest successful persuasion or completion.
Compare I had the computer repaired with I got the computer repaired.
Need and require can be followed by passive infinitives or, in some structures, by forms with gerund-like meaning.
For example, The house needs to be painted and The machine requires cleaning.
Get-passives often emphasize a change of state or an event affecting the subject.
For example, He got injured, She got promoted, and The window got broken.
Some passive constructions are part of common fixed or semi-fixed expressions.
Examples include be born, be supposed to, be expected to, and be known to.
Be known to can introduce a fact, characteristic, or reported action concerning a subject.
For example, The company is known to employ thousands of people and He is known to be very careful.
Be expected to expresses an expectation or requirement concerning the subject.
For example, Employees are expected to arrive on time and The results are expected to be announced tomorrow.
Be supposed to expresses an expected action, arrangement, duty, or intended behaviour.
For example, You are supposed to submit the form today.
Choose the correct special passive construction according to the verb pattern and intended meaning.
Common mistakes include confusing it is said with he is said to, using the wrong infinitive after reporting passives, omitting required prepositions, and confusing causative constructions with ordinary passive voice.