Impersonal Passive – It is said

Impersonal Passive – It is said ...

The verbs think, believe, say, report, know, expect, consider, understandetc are used in the following passive patterns in personal and impersonal constructions.

Active:        People believe that he lied in court.
Passive:      1. It is believed (that) he lied in court. (impersonal)
                  It + passive + that-clause
                  2. He is believed to have lied in court. (personal)
                  Subject + passive + to-infinitive

Active:       They expect him to arrive soon.
Passive:     3. It is expected (that) he will arrive soon. (impersonal)
                It + passive + that-clause 
                4. He is expected to arrive soon. (personal)
                Subject + passive + to-infinitive

The phrase It is said ... is an impersonal passive construction. We often use it in news. More examples:

• Passive sentence 1 → It is said that children are afraid of ghosts.
• Passive sentence 2 → Children are said to be afraid of ghosts.

The correct active sentence would be:

• Active sentence → People say that children are afraid of ghosts.

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