Academic writing style

Passives

One type of sentence that has two possible forms in the passive is that consisting of Subject + Verb (say, think, feel, expect, etc.) + Noun Clause Object:

a. They say that he knows some very important people.

b. People felt that the police were doing valuable work.

c. Everyone thought that the Government had shown little regard for public opinion.

The ideas expressed in these sentences would, in academic writing, generally be presented in the passive. One possible construction is that where the sentence is introduced by the impersonal it:

a. It is said that he knows some very important people.

b. It was felt that the police were doing valuable work.

c. It was thought that the Government had shown little regard for public opinion.

But in many cases a third construction is possible.

a. He is said to know some very important people.

b. The police were felt to be doing valuable work.

c. The Government was thought to have shown little regard for public opinion.

Exercise 3

Rewrite parts of the following sentences in one alternative passive form, beginning your sentences with "it".

1. We understood that Mr Smith was willing to meet the British Prime Minister.
2. People consider that this surgeon is a brilliant practitioner.
3. When Chain came in on Sunday morning and saw the result, people say that he danced.
4. Somebody claims that the drug produced no undesirable side effects.
5. People expect that the electricity supply industry will be running into surplus capacity by next year.
6. Most people now think that only a small fraction of the nitrous oxide emitted to the atmosphere each year comes from fossil-fuel use, primarily coal.
7. At the present time, researchers believe that the only problem with daytime sleep is that it is too short.
8. Although the government expects the patient to pay for his treatment, he will be reimbursed via the state medical insurance scheme.
9. If one person chooses to cause serious injury to another, we should presume that he or she realises that there is always a risk of death.
10. Someone also alleged that he amassed wealth by exploiting his high credit with the Palmyra court.

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Exercise 4

Rewrite parts of the same sentences in the other alternative passive form, beginning your sentences with the words in italics.

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