Complex Passive Structures in English

Overview

Complex passive structures allow you to report information without naming a specific source. Phrases like It is said that... and He is believed to be... are staples of news reporting, academic writing, and formal English. They let you present information as widely held or officially reported, lending your language an air of objectivity and authority.

These structures are a C1 (Advanced) topic and build directly on the passive voice skills you developed at B1 and B2. Once you master them, you will be able to read and write formal English with much greater confidence, and you will recognize these patterns everywhere -- in newspapers, research papers, and official communications.

How It Works

Two Reporting Passive Patterns

There are two main ways to form reporting passives. Both mean the same thing.

Pattern 1: It + passive reporting verb + that-clause

Active	Passive
People say that he is innocent.	It is said that he is innocent.
Experts believe that the economy will improve.	It is believed that the economy will improve.

Pattern 2: Subject + passive reporting verb + to-infinitive

Active	Passive
People say that he is innocent.	He is said to be innocent.
Experts believe that the economy will improve.	The economy is believed to improve.

Common Reporting Verbs Used in This Pattern

Verb	Example (Pattern 2)
say	She is said to be the best candidate.
believe	They are believed to be hiding.
think	He is thought to have left the country.
know	She is known to be very generous.
report	The suspect is reported to be armed.
consider	This is considered to be a masterpiece.
expect	The price is expected to rise.
allege	He is alleged to have stolen the money.
understand	She is understood to have resigned.
assume	The project is assumed to be on track.

Matching the Infinitive to the Time Reference

The infinitive form changes depending on whether the reported action is simultaneous with, earlier than, or ongoing relative to the reporting.

Time reference	Infinitive form	Example
Same time (present/future)	to + base verb	He is said to live in London.
Ongoing action	to be + -ing	They are thought to be planning something.
Earlier action	to have + past participle	She is said to have left yesterday.
Earlier ongoing action	to have been + -ing	He is believed to have been working there for years.
Passive infinitive	to be + past participle	The suspect was seen to enter the building.

Tense of the Reporting Verb

The reporting verb itself can be in different tenses:

Tense	Example
Present	It is believed that...
Past	It was reported that...
Present perfect	It has been suggested that...

Examples in Context

English	Note
It is believed that he is innocent.	Pattern 1 -- impersonal "it"
He is believed to be innocent.	Pattern 2 -- personal subject
She is said to have left the country.	Past action (to have + past participle)
They are thought to be planning something.	Ongoing action (to be + -ing)
The suspect was seen to enter the building.	Passive infinitive with perception verb
It has been reported that the bridge is unsafe.	Present perfect reporting
The company is known to treat employees well.	General reputation
He is alleged to have committed fraud.	Legal/journalistic language
The economy is expected to grow by 3%.	Prediction/forecast
It was understood that the deal had fallen through.	Past reporting

Common Mistakes

Using the wrong infinitive for past events

• Wrong: She is said to leave yesterday.
• Right: She is said to have left yesterday.
• Why: When the reported action happened before the reporting time, you need the perfect infinitive (to have + past participle).

Forgetting the passive in Pattern 2

• Wrong: People are believed that the economy will improve.
• Right: It is believed that the economy will improve. OR The economy is believed to improve.
• Why: "People" cannot be the subject of Pattern 2 unless they are the ones being reported about. The subject of the passive must be the person or thing the report is about.

Using these structures in casual conversation

• Wrong: (chatting with friends) It is said that the pizza here is good.
• Right: People say the pizza here is great. or Apparently the pizza here is great.
• Why: Reporting passives are formal. In casual speech, use "people say," "apparently," or "supposedly" instead.

Confusing "is said to" with "is told to"

• Wrong: He is told to be very rich. (when you mean "people say he is rich")
• Right: He is said to be very rich.
• Why: "Is told to" means someone gave him an instruction. "Is said to" means people report that he is rich.

Usage Notes

Complex passive structures are overwhelmingly formal. They dominate:

• Journalism: The minister is understood to have resigned.
• Academic writing: This theory is widely considered to be outdated.
• Legal language: The defendant is alleged to have...

In both British and American English, these structures are used identically. However, they appear somewhat more frequently in British broadsheet newspapers.

In everyday speech, native speakers almost always prefer simpler alternatives: They say he's rich rather than He is said to be rich. Use the formal passives when the context calls for objectivity, distance, or authority.

Practice Tips

• News rewriting: Take five sentences from a news article that use "sources say" or "experts believe" and rewrite them using both Pattern 1 and Pattern 2. This builds fluency with both forms.

• Infinitive drill: Practice matching the correct infinitive to the time reference. Write sentences where the reported action is (a) happening now, (b) happened in the past, and (c) is ongoing. Check that you use the right infinitive form each time.

• Register awareness: Read a formal report and an informal blog post about the same topic. Note how the formal text uses reporting passives where the informal text uses "people think" or "apparently."

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Advanced Passive Structures -- you need comfort with causatives and ditransitive passives before tackling reporting passives
• Next steps: Explore nominalization and formal hedging language for more tools to write objective, academic English