Spotlight - 11.2019

50 Spotlight 11/2019 THE GRAMMAR PAGE

THE GRAMMAR PAGE

Using passive

reporting verbs

ADRIAN DOFF presents and explains this key

point of grammar with notes on a short dialogue.

MEDIUM PLUS

Explanations

1. To report what people say or think, you can use a verb in the
   passive voice: “is believed to” + infinitive. This means that
   most people believe it’s a myth.


2. This is a passive form of the verb “know”: “are known to” + in-
   finitive. It means that we know that some of them are fakes.


3. This is a passive form of the verb “think”: “ is thought to” +
   infinitive. It means that people think it shows.


4. Another passive form: “is supposed to” + infinitive. This is
   the perfect infinitive (to have lived) and refers to the past.
   It means that people think that it has lived there.


5. A passive form of the verb “say”: “is / are said to” + infinitive.
   Here, the infinitive is in the continuous form (be hiding)
   to describe something that is still going on now. It means that
   people say that it is hiding.

Dialogue

A reporter is being interviewed for a programme about

Loch Ness in Scotland.

Interviewer: So, is there really a monster in Loch Ness?

Reporter: Well, some people say the Loch Ness

Monster is real, but it’s generally believed

to be^1 just a myth.

Interviewer: There are photographs of it, though, aren’t

there?

Reporter: Yes, but some of them are known to be^2

fakes, and others are probably photos of

something else. For example, one of them

is thought to show^3 a large deer swimming

in the water.

Interviewer: But if the monster does exist, how long has

it been there?

Reporter: It’s supposed to have lived^4 there for cen-

turies. The first reported sighting was in

AD 565, and people claim to have seen it

regularly ever since.

Interviewer: It’s surprising that people don’t see it more

often.

Reporter: Well, Loch Ness is very deep, and the mon-

ster is said to be hiding^5 in the deepest part

of the lake. That may be why people don’t

see it. But a more likely reason is that it

doesn’t exist.

Exercise

Rewrite the sentences below, using the verbs in brackets

in the passive form.

A. Snakes make good pets. (suppose)

..
B. He’s left the country. (think)
..
C. Venice is sinking into the sea. (know)
..
D. Napoleon was very short. (say)
..
E. This temple is more than 5,000 years old. (believe)
..

Answers

A.

Snakes are supp

osed to

make good pets.

B.

He’s thought to have left the country.

C.

V

enice is known to be sinking into the sea.

D.

Napoleon is said to have been very short.

E.

This temple is believed to be more than 5,000 years old.

Remember!

To report what people say, think or believe, you can use a report-

ing verb in the passive voice, followed by “to” + infinitive:

⋅ Exercise is known to be good for you.

⋅ The government is believed to have chemical weapons.

To talk about the past, use “to” + “have” + past participle:

⋅ He is thought to have moved to Brazil. (= People think he

has moved to Brazil.)

To talk about something happening now, use “to” + “be” + “-ing”:

⋅ He is said to be living in Brazil. (= People say that he is living

in Brazil.)

Beyond the basics

Passive reporting verbs are used mainly in more formal speech

or in writing, especially in news reports. The expression is/are

supposed to be, however, is common in conversation:

⋅ We should go to see that film. It’s supposed to be really

good. (= People say it’s really good.)

bracket [(brÄkIt]

, Klammer

claim [kleIm]

, behaupten

deer [dIE]

, Hirsch, Reh

myth [mIT]

, Märchen, Mythos

short [SO:t]

, hier: klein

Find more exercises

in Spotlight plus:

spotlight-online.de/

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