Impersonal Report Structures

When we report what people generally believe or say we can use the subject It + the passive of verbs like:

• say
• know
• believe
• claim
• suppose
• think
• fear
• predict
• It is said that cats eat a lot of fish.
• It was known that dogs are very friendly.

We can also start the sentence from the person/thing that the information concerns and use the structure subject + the passive + infinitive:

• It is known that storks live in a clear environment. - Storks are known to live is a clean environment.

We use an ordinary infinitive if the action reported is parallel with the time of the reporting:

• It was said that Sarah was the best teacher of English. - Sarah was said to be the best teacher of English.

We use perfect infinitive if the action happened before the time of reporting:

• It was said that the minister had been involved in organised crime. - The minister was said to have been involved in organised crime.