Passive reporting verbs Form ‘We can report actions and events using the passive in two different ways: A: It + passive verb + that clause It is believed that the company was sold jor $20 million, B: subject + passive verb + 0+ infinitive The company is believed to have been sold for $20 ‘milion A: It + passive verb + that clause Reporting verbs that commonly follow this pattern. are: agre, allege, announce, assume, tliew, claim, consider, decide, estimate, expect, fear, hope, know, presume, report, say, suggest, think, understand Present Itis thought that the eyespots on butterfly wings startle ‘their enemies. Itis believed that the minister is considering resignation following the scandal Past ‘tis estimated that ten thousand people took part in the demonstration. It was alleged that the boy hacked into his school's computer. Itzeasn’t thought that permanent damage had been caused. Future Itis expected that the new stadium will open in Ianuary. B: Subject + passive verb + to ive Reporting verbs that commonly follow this pattem are: allege, assume, beliece, cnsider, estimate, expect, know, report, say, think, understand, Present ‘The eyespots on butterfly wings are thought to startle their enemies The minister is believed to be considering resignation following the scandal Past Ten thousand people are estimated fo have taken part The boy was alleged to have hacked into his school’s computer [No permanent damage zwas thought to have been caused This structure is very common in formal writing eg, newspaper articles, academic essays and business documents, as well asin formal speaking contexts, ‘4 academic discussions and business meetings or presentations. Practice 1 Revit the sentences using passive reporting verbs. 1. Conservationists fear that polar bears may soon become extinct. Iti fare thot polar bears may soon become extinct 2. Journalists reported that an oil spill has ‘occurred off the coast of Mexico. An oil spill. 3. Detectives know the robbery took place in the early hours of this morning. ‘The robbery 4 Insider sources say that the player has not been selected for the Olympic team, ‘The player 5. Scientists think that dinosaurs were wiped out when an asteroid hit Earth. Dinosaurs 6 Doctors say a climber who fell 100 metres down a steep ridge is recovering well. climber who 7 The finance minister is expected to announce a tax increase tomorrow. It 8 The police believe there weren't any witnesses present. No witnessesFuture The new stadivim is expected to open in January. affirmative negative active simple to sell not tose continuous ‘tobe selling rot to be selling perfect to have sold not to have sold perfect continuous tohavebeen not to have been selling selling passive simple tobe sold not tobe sold perfect tohavebeen sold not tohave been sold Notice how we use passive reporting verbs with there, It is known that there ave small traces of mereury in fish ‘There is knowe to be smtall traces of mercury in fish. Use We use reporting verbs in the passive when: + we cannot verify the source of the information. + weassume that the reader or listener is not interested in who the agent or source is, the agent or souree is obvious from the context no... except/but to + infinitive {humo choice but 10 resign, Wehave no aiternative except to sel the louse. Helhad no option but to eport the matter fo te police. no matter + relative pronoun No matter wat I sry, he wom’ believe me Nomatter how hard ¥ try can’t forget wiht happened. Practice 2 Rewrite the sentences using an expression with no land the word in brackets 1 You've got nothing te loseby applying forthe jeb. (harm) There's 2. The advertising campaign has defintely been fective. (cous) There's 3. Why pay for an expeasivelaptop if you don’t really need one? (point) ‘There's 4 The reality i, however many possessions we have, we always want more. (matter) Tho reality is, 5. Calling him is a waste of time as he never answers his phone. (use) Ws (6 loss say that they wil be forced to go on strike itan agreement isn’t reached, alternative) Pilots say 7 Youccant access the data without a password. (way) Theres 8 assure you I don’t intend to leave before this, matter solved. (intention) Tassure you CER SEAN Expressions with no Form and use Only certain nouns are used in these expressions. Here are some of the most common. no + noun + -ing There’s no point (in) worrying. aad no difficulty (ov) finding the venue. ‘There's no harm (in) tring. There's no sense (in) waiting It's no use arguing. 1s no good complaining. no + noun + of + -ing Theres no wy of finding out He had no intention of ferving. ‘There was 10 mention of having to pay. ‘She made no suggestion of changing it. We had no means of getting there. I've got no chance of winning. There's no hope of frshing the project om time. no + noun + that ‘There's no question that tl work. There's no doubt that she's right. ‘There was mo suggestion that we would have to attend. ‘There wus mo expectation that he would pay.