Lesson 3 Special Passive Structures

It is said that…He is said to…Be supposed to…

A. When we talk about what other people say, believe, etc. we can use two possible passive forms. Compare:

Active: People say that Mr. Ross is a millionaire.

Passive 1: It + passive + that-clause

It is said that Mr Ross is a millionaire.

Passive 2: Subject + passive + to-infinitive

Mr Ross is said to be a millionaire.

B. We often use these passive forms in a formal style and with verbs such as: say / think / believe / consider / understand / know / report / expect / allege / claim / acknowledge:

▪ It is believed that they own a lot of land in the north.

▪ They are believed to own a lot of land in the north.

▪ It is reported that the president is seriously ill.

▪ The president is reported to be seriously ill.

▪ It is expected that a new law will be introduced next year.

▪ A new law is expected to be introduced next year.

C. We can use – supposed to – to mean ‘said to’.

▪ I’d like to read that book. It is supposed to be very good. (=It is said to be very good.)

▪ He is supposed to have been married before. (=He is said to have been married before.)

-Supposed to – sometimes suggests some doubt about whether something is true or not.

We also use -supposed to- to say what people are expected to do because of an arrangement, a rule, or a duty:

▪ I’m supposed to see Maria this afternoon.

▪ What are you doing at work? You are supposed to be on holiday. (=you arranged to be on holiday).

In the past form –be supposed to – often expresses the idea that an expected event didn’t occur:

▪ Our guests were supposed to come at 7.30, but they were late.

▪ Jane was supposed to phone me last night, but she didn’t.

▪ Alice was supposed to be at home at ten, but she didn’t get in until midnight.

You are not supposed to do something = it is not allowed or advisable.

▪ You are not supposed to park your car here. It’s private parking only.

▪ He is still not supposed to do any heavy work, because of his illness.

Have something done

D. We use the structure – have something done – to talk about something which we arrange for someone else to do for us.

Compare these situations:

▪ Claire decorated the room. (She did the work herself.)

▪ Claire had the room decorated. (A decorator did the work.)

We can use have in a passive structure. Claire had the room decorated means that she arranged for a decorator to do it for her as a professional service.

▪ I’m building a garage at the moment. (I’m building the garage myself.)

▪ I’m having a garage built at the moment. (I arranged for someone else to do this for me.)

Form

Have + object + past participle

Look at these examples:

▪ You should have your car serviced regularly.

▪ Mark usually has his suits cleaned at Superclean.

▪ We had the television repaired only last year.

▪ You’ve had your hair cut.

▪ Our neighbours are having a new garage built.

Note that we can use the perfect or the continuous. (have had, are having).

In negatives and questions in simple tenses, we use a form of – do - :

▪ Mark doesn’t have his suits cleaned.

▪ We didn’t have new windows put in because it was too expensive.

▪ Do you have your car serviced regularly?

▪ Where did you have your hair cut?

F. We can also use - have something done – when we don’t arrange for someone else to do something for us. – Have - means 'experience'. We can use ‘have’ in this structure with the meaning 'experience something', often something unpleasant.

▪ I had my leg broken in a football match.

▪ We had our fence blown down in a storm last week.

G. We can also use – get something done – The sentences have the same meaning, but – get – is more informal:

▪ We must have another key made. – We must get another key made.