IMPERSONAL PASSIVE

a) It is a special case of passive, commonly associated with reporting verbs,

that is verbs of saying and thinking: think, believe, say, report, know,
consider, presume, hope…. These verbs are often followed by a to-
infinitive form in the passive.
These types of sentences are very common in newspapers and TV news, and
more colloquially, when someone is gossiping.
Ex.: Active- The police think the terrorists are in France.
Passive- The terrorists are thought to be in France.
b) How have we done this?
1. We take the subject of the second sentence (the terrorists)
2. We make the reporting verb think (simple present) passive in the same
tense as in the active: are thought (simple present passive).
3. Finally, the verb of the second sentence (are) becomes infinitive: to
be.
Or we introduce “It” as the subject of the passive verb and keep the rest
of the active sentence: It is thought that the terrorists are in France.
c) Which form of the infinitive shall we use?
There are four infinitive forms depending on the tense of the active
sentence.
1. Simple to write
2. Continuous to be writing
3. Perfect to have written
4. Perf. Cont. to have been writing

1. If it carries an idea of present or future: Simple: to be.

2. If it carries an idea of past, whatever the tense (Past Simple, Past
Perfect, Present Perfect): Perfect: to have escaped.
3. If either of them is in a continuous form, use the adequate cont.form: to
be writing or to have been writing.
Ex: The terrorists are thought to be hiding in a flat (now).
They are also thought to have stolen a big amount of explosives from a
mine (some time ago).
d) Some verbs have special passive forms:
 Make and help are followed by a bare infinitive in the active but
take a to-infinitive in the passive:
(Ac) My mother made me tidy my room – (Pas)I was made to tidy my
room
 Let is replaced in the passive by allowed to:
(Ac) The teacher let us leave early- (Pas) We were allowed to leave
early (by the teacher).
 See and hear and some other verbs of the senses can be followed by
either a to-infinitive or a gerund form in the passive.
( Ac) They heard the baby cry/crying- (Pas) The baby was heard to
cry/ crying.
EXERCISES
1. Their parents thought that the teenagers were dancing at the disco.
It ………………………………………………….
The teenagers…………………………………………………
2. Everybody thinks that Bruce Springsteen is a great singer.
………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………..
3. Ancient people thought that the stars would fall on them.
………………………………………………..
……………………………………..
4. People believed that they had killed the animals during the night.
………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………….
5. The students all know that Shakespeare was born in Stratford.
…………………………………………………………………………….
6. The teacher helped her students finish the exercise.
……………………………………………………………………………………….
7. The headmaster made them sit down and stay there until 5 o’clock.
………………………………………………………………………………………
 8. Reporters at the airport are expecting that the president will be
arriving soon.
…………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………….
9. We saw the baby crawl towards the window.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

CAUSATIVE PASSIVE: HAVE/GET THINGS DONE

Subject causative verb (any tense) object action verb (past part)

We had our door fixed.

Helen is going to have her hair cut.
My mother has the windows cleaned.

This is not a real passive but it’s quite common when we pay someone else,
in most cases an expert, to do things we can’t or don’t want to do. The
structure is always the same; therefore, be very careful!

 Imagine you were rich and could have all sorts of things done for you;
maybe you would like the same things as me:

1. I ……………….. have my nails (do)…………………….. once a week.

2. I………………. have my bedroom (redecorate)……………………………. in beautiful
oriental colours and fabrics.
3. I…………….. have the lunch (cook) …………………….. by a professional cook.
4.I……………… have my shopping (do)………………….. and the house (clean)
…………..form top to bottom every two days.
This would leave me time to do the things I enjoy, like reading, chatting to
friends, going for walks and playing paddle!
  Or maybe your house is a mess so you say:
5. I think the carpenter should fix my door.
I’ll……………………………………………………………………………………………
6. I think the gardener should cut my grass.
I’ll……………………………………………………………………..
7. I think the painters should paint the walls.
I’ll…………………………………………………………………………………………..

 Nevertheless, sometimes things happen accidentally; then, we use

GET instead of HAVE (although many speakers wouldn’t). For
example:
Stallone got his nose broken in a fight.
I got my purse stolen during the carnivals.

EXERCISES:

8. Someone washed my car for me yesterday. I ……………………………………………

9. I asked a man to mend my shoes. I…………………………………………………
10. Your car needs servicing. You must…………………………………………………….
11. He asked his tailor to lengthen his trousers……………………………………..
12. Someone tuned her piano for her yesterday. She……………………….
13. I (have)…………………………..my phone (repair) ………………………..after I dropped
it.
14. She didn’t have time to get to the shops and (have/her film/develop)
………………………………………………………
15.He (have)…………………………his bags loaded onto the train by a porter.