At B1 the passive was two tenses. At B2 it becomes a register: the sound of regulations, lab reports, and news writing, where who did it matters less than what was done. Two upgrades carry most of that register — modals and reporting verbs.
What you can do after this lesson
You can write rule-like and report-like sentences (Applications must be submitted…, The site is said to be…) without naming an agent, and you can recognise when the passive is hiding one deliberately.
The lesson
Passive with modals. Modal + be + past participle. The modal keeps its meaning; only the verb goes passive:
Assignments must be submitted through the portal. Extensions can be requested in writing. The old forms should have been archived last semester.
Note the past version: modal + have been + past participle — essential for audits and reviews (The invoice should have been checked).
Passive reporting verbs. For claims you did not verify yourself, English offers two impersonal patterns:
- It + passive + that…: It is believed that the settlement dates from the 1870s.
- Subject + passive + to-infinitive: The settlement is believed to date from the 1870s.
Pattern 2 is the more academic-sounding of the pair. Common verbs: say, believe, report, expect, know, estimate, claim, consider. For earlier events, use the perfect infinitive: The cargo is reported to have arrived damaged.
Why bother? These forms mark distance: scientists estimate is someone else's claim, is estimated to signals you are relaying it, not owning it. That distinction is the backbone of academic caution.
Examples
- Regulation: Protective equipment must be worn at all times on site.
- Process: Samples should be labelled before they are sent to the laboratory.
- News: The road is expected to be reopened before the rainy season.
- Research: Kava is known to have been traded across the Pacific for centuries.
- Hindsight: The results ought to have been double-checked before publication.
Common mistakes
- ✗ The report must be submit by Friday. → ✓ …must be submitted… (Past participle after be, always.)
- ✗ It is believed to that the bridge is unsafe. → ✓ It is believed that… or The bridge is believed to be unsafe. (Two patterns — don't weld them together.)
- Overuse. A whole paragraph in the passive reads like a legal notice. Use it for rules and relayed claims; keep your own arguments active: I argue that…, not It is argued that… when the arguer is you.
Self-check — what can I do now?
- Make it impersonal: People say that the market is the oldest in the province. → two ways. (It is said that… / The market is said to be…)
- Rewrite as a rule: You have to wear ID cards in the building. (ID cards must be worn…)
- Find one passive reporting sentence in today's news and identify the pattern (1 or 2) — then say who the hidden agent probably is.