Passive rules

The Passive

The passive is common in technical and scientific writing, and generally in spoken and written contexts where there is less use of personal reference, since the audience may be unknown, or the speaker wants to remain impersonal.
I was offered… / we were given… etc.

Some verbs can have two objects.
Somebody gave the police the information.

So it is possible to make two passive sentences:
The police were given the information.
The information was given to the police.

Other verbs which can have two objects are:
ask, offer, pay, show, teach, tell

When we use these verbs in the passive, most often we begin with a person:
I was offered a job, but I refused it. (=they offered me a job)
You will be given plenty of time to decide. (=we will give you plenty of time)
Have you been shown the new machine? (=has anybody shown you?)

I don’t like being…

Compare:
active: I don’t like people telling me what to do.
passive: I don’t like being told what to do.

I remember being taken to the zoo when I was a child.
(=I rememember smb taking me to the zoo)
Steve hates being kept waiting.
(=he hates when people keeping him waiting)
We managed to climb over the wall without being seen.
(=without anybody seeing us)

Have/ get sth done

This typically describes a service performed for us by someone else.
I’ve just had/got my car serviced. I have/get it done every winter.
It can also describe sth unfortunate that happens to someone.
We had/got our car broken into last month.

Need doing

The need to have a service done can be described with need doing.
My hair needs cutting. (=My hair needs to be cut).
Your car needs repairing. (= Your car needs to be repaired).

Reporting verbs

With verbs such as believe, know, say, think, which report people’s opinions, a passive construction is often used to give a generalized opinion.

1. Present reference
The passive is followed by the present infinitive.

The criminal is thought to be in hiding in the London area.
Vitamin C is known to be good for treating colds.

2. Past reference
The passive is followed by the past infinitive.

Smith is believed to have left England last week.
Sarah is said to have engaged with Tom on Sunday.

3. Past reporting verb
If the reporting verb is in the past, the past infinitive tends to follow, though not always if the verb be is used.

People thought Sue had paid too much.
Sue was thought to have paid too much.

The police thought that the thief was still in the house.
The thief was thought to still be in the house.

4. Past reference with two objects
In this case there are two ways of making a passive sentence.

active: An Italian painted the portrait and everybody knows it.
passive 1: Everyone knows the portrait was painted by an Italian.
passive 2: The portrait is known to have been painted by an Italian.

5. Continuous infinitive
Past and present continuous infinitives are also used.

Mary is thought to be living in Scotland.
The driver is thought to have been doing a U-turn.

Special points

1. Verbs make, hear, see are followed by to when used in the passive.

My boss made me work hard.
I was made to work hard by my boss.

I heard them shout.
They were heard to shout.

I saw him go into the building.
He was seen to go into the building.

2. The verb let has no passive. We use allow instead.

They didn’t let me pay for the damage.
I wasn’t allowed to pay for the damage.