PERSONAL IMPERSONAL PASSIVE CONSTRUCTION

If the reported action happens earlier than the reporting itself, we use perfect or perfect continuous infinitives. 1. He is believed never to have smiled at anyone. (= They believe he (has) never smiled at anyone.) 2. She is known to have been writing songs for years. (= They know she has been writing/was writing songs for years.) 3. Lucy was assumed to have left the day before. (= They assumed Lucy had left the day before.) 4. The organisers were thought to have been preparing for days. (= Everybody thought the organisers had been preparing for days.) 5. This painting is known to have been painted by Caspar David Friedrich. (= They know that the painting was painted by Caspar David Friedrich. / They know that Caspar David Friedrich painted it.) 6. This painting is believed to have been being painted for years. (rarely used) (= They believe that the painting has been being painted / was being painted for years. / They believe that someone has been painting / was painting it for years.) 7. America was thought to have been discovered by Columbus. (= People thought that America had been discovered by Colombus. / People thought that Columbus had discovered America.) 8. The tree was reported to have been being chopped when the accident had happened. (almost never used) (= The investigators reported that the tree had been being chopped when the accident happened. / The investigators reported that the woodcutters had been chopping the tree when the accident happened.) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. People say that money is not everything. People say that children are afraid of ghosts. Everybody knows that the water in the river is contaminated. People believe that Kennedy avoided a third world war. Many scientists believe that the universe is expanding. They say that French wine is the best. Some people consider that the Russians have more dangerous weapons than the Americans. 8. Doctors claim that penicillin saved millions of lives in the last war. 9. The newspapers say that the price of gold is going up again. 10. The police suspect that Mary stole the money. 11. The newspapers reported that President Kennedy had been assassinated.