Passive Reporting Structures: It Is Believed That and He Is Said to

Formal English often needs to report a claim without making the writer the direct source of that claim. Passive reporting structures create distance, foreground the reported information, and allow careful attribution.

It + passive reporting verb + that-clause

The impersonal pattern It is said/believed/thought/reported/expected that… presents a proposition without naming the source in the main clause.

• It is believed that the policy will reduce costs.
• It was reported that several flights had been cancelled.
• It is widely expected that demand will increase.

Subject + passive reporting verb + infinitive

A more compact alternative makes the person or thing the grammatical subject: subject + be + reported verb + to-infinitive.

• The policy is believed to reduce costs.
• Several flights were reported to have been cancelled.
• Demand is expected to increase.

Choose the infinitive for time

Use to do when the reported situation is simultaneous or future relative to the reporting point. Use to have done when it happened earlier.

• She is said to live in Prague.
• She is said to have lived in Prague in the 1990s.

Register and evidence

These structures are formal and useful when the source is general, institutional, or deliberately backgrounded. They should not be used to hide weak evidence. Professional writing still needs appropriate sourcing where factual accountability matters.

• The medicine is believed to affect sleep.
• The company is reported to be considering a merger.

Avoid unnecessary stiffness

In ordinary conversation, direct forms are usually clearer: People say…, The newspaper reported…. Choose passive reporting because the register and information structure require it, not simply because it sounds formal.

Common mistakes to avoid

• He is said that he works abroad → It is said that he works abroad or He is said to work abroad.
• For an earlier event, prefer is believed to have…, not a simple infinitive.

Quick practice

1. Rewrite: “People believe that the painting is authentic.”
2. Show earlier time: “People say she left before noon.”
3. Which form is more transparent when the source is known: passive reporting or naming the source?

Suggested answers: 1. The painting is believed to be authentic. 2. She is said to have left before noon. 3. Naming the source is usually more transparent.

Key takeaway

Passive reporting is a tool for information structure and cautious attribution. Use it precisely, and do not let grammatical distance replace evidential responsibility.