In the previous grammar lessons in this unit, you learned how to use the passive voice with various tenses and how to use it to form causative. This lesson will focus on using the passive voice to express opinions, ideas, and beliefs.
Describing Present Beliefs and Opinions
When you want to talk about beliefs or thoughts that are commonly held, you can use the passive voice. This allows you to focus on the opinion rather than the person or people who hold it.
The structure is as follows: It is + past participle + that + clause
- It is believed that children who are raised in bilingual homes usually do better in school than children who grow up speaking only one language.
The sentence implies that this is something that most or many people believe, so it isn’t necessary to say this directly.
These are some of the most commonly used verbs with this structure:
- believe
- think
- know
- consider
- understand
- expect
- accept
- assume
- feel
As mentioned above, this structure describes the thoughts of large groups of people or society in general. It can also be used to express opinions of smaller groups or individuals by adding by and a reference to the group or individual.
- In some cultures, it is expected by many that women will wear a head covering when they are in public places.
- It is believed by some that Spanish should be made an official language of the United States.
- It is thought by the president that his policies will help him win the next election.
Finally, this form can also be used to describe things that people think are true but aren’t proven.
- No one knows for sure, but it is assumed that the missing man died somewhere on the mountain.
- It is thought that the fire started because of an electrical problem.
- According to reports, it is expected that he will resign from the job early next week.
Describing Past Beliefs and Opinions
You can use the same structure to describe opinions or beliefs that were held in the past. The structure is the same, but the be verb and the clause are in the past tense.
The structure is as follows: It was + past participle + that + past tense clause
- It was believed that the book would be released in August, but it was delayed several months.
- Hundreds of years ago, it was thought that beer was safer and healthier to drink than water.
- It was assumed that most students would choose English as the second language they wanted to study.
This structure is often used to describe beliefs and opinions that are no longer thought to be true or correct.
- In the early 1980s, it was thought that people would have no use for home computers.
- It was considered that the language was extinct until researchers discovered that it was still spoken by a few families in remote areas of the region.
- It was accepted for years that it was impossible for humans to go to the Moon.
As above, you can also use by to indicate who had these beliefs and opinions.
- Until he introduced them to his fiance, it was assumed by most of his friends that Craig would never get married.
- It was understood by doctors that the disease couldn’t be cured, but new research says they may have been wrong.
- It may seem strange to people today, but, not so long ago, it was felt by many people that smoking was a safe way to reduce stress.