Personal Impersonal Passive Exercises Pdf Info
Common errors observed in learners include:
To help you practice and master these concepts, we have prepared a set of exercises that cover personal, impersonal, and passive voice. These exercises will help you identify and use the correct voice in different sentences.
They believed that he stole the money. Personal Passive: He was believed to have stolen the money. 3. Transforming Tenses: Personal Passive
Not every verb can be used this way. Here are the most common verbs used in personal and impersonal passive constructions: 11.
Impersonal Passive: It __________ the suspect has left the country. Active: They expect that the new law will pass soon. Personal Passive: The new law __________ soon. (Answers: 1. is believed that, 2. is expected to pass) 🚀 Get the PDF personal impersonal passive exercises pdf
In this article, we'll break down these constructions, explain their structures with clear examples, and point you toward the best resources to solidify your understanding.
If the active sentence says "People believed ", your passive must be "It was believed" or "He was believed".
People say that the new CEO works 14 hours a day.
Rewrite the following sentences using both the personal and impersonal passive structures. Common errors observed in learners include: To help
Conjugate the verb "to be" to match the tense of the original reporting verb. Turn the reporting verb into its past participle form.
It was believed that the artifact was ancient.
The impersonal passive is used when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or you wish to intentionally omit the doer to focus on the action or information11. This structure is often called because it distances the speaker from the factual accuracy of the statement.
The type of infinitive you use depends on when the second action happened relative to the reporting verb. Time Relationship Infinitive Type Active Example Personal Passive Example Simple Infinitive to + verb People think he lives in London. He is thought to live in London. In Progress (Continuous) Continuous Infinitive to + be + -ing They believe she is studying now. She is believed to be studying now. Prior Action (Past) Perfect Infinitive to + have + V3 Police claim he stole the car. He is claimed to have stolen the car. Prior Continuous Action Perfect Continuous to + have + been + -ing They report he was hiding for weeks. He is reported to have been hiding for weeks. Passive Action Passive Infinitive to + be + V3 They expect the law will be passed . The law is expected to be passed . Common Reporting Verbs Used in These Structures Personal Passive: He was believed to have stolen the money
Structure: Subject + Passive Reporting Verb + to-infinitive. 2. Quick Practice Exercise
The choice of infinitive depends entirely on the timeline of the action: Active: People expect that the strike will end tomorrow. Personal: The strike is expected to end tomorrow. Past Action →right arrow Perfect Infinitive (to + have + V3)
In this example, "it" is the subject, but the doer of the action (who said) is not specified, making it an impersonal voice sentence.
Try transforming these active sentences into both impersonal and personal passive forms: Active: People believe that he owns a lot of land. It is believed that he owns a lot of land. Personal: He is believed to own a lot of land.
Subject (from the that-clause)+Passive Reporting Verb+Infinitive FormSubject (from the that-clause) plus Passive Reporting Verb plus Infinitive Form