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The Passive With Reporting Verbs

The document discusses the use of the passive voice with reporting verbs in news reports and formal writing. Using reporting verbs in the passive allows information to be presented when the source is unknown or wants to distance themselves from the information. Reporting verbs like say, believe, and think can be used in the passive in sentences following "it is/was" plus the passive reporting verb plus a clause or by using the verb plus "to be". This construction allows information to be presented objectively without attribution.

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Maya Dana
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268 views2 pages

The Passive With Reporting Verbs

The document discusses the use of the passive voice with reporting verbs in news reports and formal writing. Using reporting verbs in the passive allows information to be presented when the source is unknown or wants to distance themselves from the information. Reporting verbs like say, believe, and think can be used in the passive in sentences following "it is/was" plus the passive reporting verb plus a clause or by using the verb plus "to be". This construction allows information to be presented objectively without attribution.

Uploaded by

Maya Dana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Reporting Clauses in the Passive

Page 33

The passive with reporting verbs – Grammar chart

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In news reports and formal writing, it is common to use the passive forms of
reporting verbs. Using this resource allows us to give information when we don’t
Reporting Clauses in the Passive
Page 33

know for sure whether it is true or not, or when we want to distance ourselves
from the source of the information.

Reporting verbs are verbs of saying or believing such


as agree, announce, believe, claim, consider, expect, hope, know, report, sa
y, suggest, think, understand, etc. And we can use their passive form for
distancing in two different ways. Check the examples below:

 It is said that they are in Las Vegas.


 They are said to be in Las Vegas.

It is said that… + subject + verb


We can use the passive of a reporting verb in a sentence after an
introductory it: It + passive reporting verb + (that) + clause (subject + verb)

 It is believed that the murderer is no longer in the country.


 It has been announced that they are going to cancel the tour.
 It has been suggested that the team can’t be trusted defensively.
 It was thought the building could collapse.

Source: Th

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