What is the impersonal passive and how can you use it effectively in English? Find out in this week’s episode of Aprender Inglés con Reza y Craig.

5 star review on itunes: Me parece un programa súper ameno y didáctico, seguid por favor con los episodios, me los pongo en el coche y aprendo un montón! – by Silviti from Spain

Audio message from Xavi from Tarragona
LEMON tree / APPLE tree / CHERRY tree

Compound noun (stress on first part) GREENhouse / WHITEboard / ENGlish teacher (teaches English) / DARKroom
Adjective and noun (stress on second part) Green HOUSE / white BOARD / English TEACHER (from England) / dark ROOM

Yellow Lemon Tree – Fools Garden

Email from Isabel Chamorro.
Buenas tardes. Tengo una duda y a pesar de que he consultado con gente que creía que me la podían resolver,no ha sido así… La duda es sobre las pasivas impersonales,en Inglés.
Con la fórmula “It is said” o “It is believed” seguida de la oración “that”, no tengo problema.
El problema es con la segunda fórmula de las impersonales.
Creo que tengo claro que cuando se refieren a presentar a futuro, se usa ‘to’ más infinitivo.

Oración en presente
People in Greece think that bulls represent strength
1ª It is thought in Greece that in bulls represent strength.
2ª Bulls are thought to represent strength in Greece.

Oración en futuro
1ª It is reported that the President will overcome his health problems soon.
2ª The President is reported to overcome his health problems soon.

Hasta aquí ,claro como el agua. El problema lo tengo con el tiempo pasado.

1ª It is believed that robbers have committed the biggest robbery of the year.
2ª Robbers are believed to……………………………???????

Os estaría muy agradecida si pudierais ayudarme. Soy seguidora de vuestro cuaderno y de vuestros podcasts y creo que sois unos profesores magníficos, por eso me atrevo a preguntaros mi duda.
Muchísimas gracias anticipadas y cordial saludo.

Impersonal passives often report news or give views: – 
There are 2 types of structures:
People say that love is the most important thing – ACTIVE
1. It is said that (Se dice que) love is the most important thing. – IMPERSONAL PASSIVE with “It” + “that” clause
2. Love is said to be the most important thing.- IMPERSONAL PASSIVE with a subject + infinitive

Common reporting verbs used: say, believe, claim, report, rumour, know, think, expect, suggest, recommend, advise, warn, ask, understand, feel, allege, consider, presume, affirm, state, accept, etc.

1. It wasn’t known that arsenic is a poison in the past.
2. Arsenic wasn’t known to be a poison in the past.

1. It is generally considered that undressing in public is unacceptable.
2. Undressing in public is generally considered to be unacceptable.

1. It is rumoured that the married celebrity has a lover. She lives in Monaco.
2. The married celebrity is rumoured to have (infin.) a lover. She lives in Monaco.

Compare:-
1. It is rumoured that the married celebrity had a lover, but she left him years ago.
2. The married celebrity is rumoured to have had (perfect infin.) a lover, but she left him years ago. (to have)

1. It is still widely believed today that Lady Diana was pregnant when she died.
2. Lady Diana is still widely believed today to have been (perfect infin.) pregnant when she died. (to be pregnant, infinitive.)
Compare –
1. It was widely believed at the time that Lady Diana was pregnant when she died.
2. Lady Diana was widely believed at the time to have been (perfect infin.)/ to be (infin.) pregnant when she died. (TWO CORRECT VERSIONS with reporting verb in the PAST)

1. It has been universally accepted that listening to these podcasts improves your English.
2. Listening to these podcasts has been universally accepted to improve your English.

We are getting close to episode 200! ‘Ask us anything’.
Send us a voice message and let us know. https://www.speakpipe.com/inglespodcast

Or send an email to [email protected] or Reza at [email protected]

Bruno our Gold Sponsor on Patreon
Walking tours of Copenhagen through his company https://www.copenhagenwalkingtour.com/
Castle Tours and Walking Tours of Copenhagen both in English or Spanish! copenhagenwalkingtour.com
Also, Favela walking tour in Rio, led by local guides only. It’s safe and it helps the community to improve on their daily needs. Go to Bruno’s websites to find out more information: http://www.favelawalkingtour.com.br/

Thank you to all our wonderful Patrons who are supporting the podcast:
Beatriz Sánchez
Pedro Marti­nez
Maite Palacín Perez
Lara Arlem
Rafa Bancells
Néstor García Mañes http://nestorgm.com/ Luces Extrañas
Maria Gervatti
Lorena
Sara jarabo
Carlos Garrido
Mamen
Juan Leyva Galera
Corey Fineran http://www.ivyenvy.com/
Miren Ful
Jose Luis Arregui
Agus Paolucci
Mariel Riedemann
Manuel Garci­a Betegón
Jorge Jiménez
Raul Lopez
Rafael
Manuel Tarazona
Jose Manuel Fernandez Picazo
Juan Carlos Rodado
Pilar Martinez
Ganbatte Blog
Ana Giovanna
Igor Garmendia
Ignacio Espona
Kieran
Carlos Garcia
Patxi Ibáñez
Ana Ibarra
Our latest Patrons: Dana Constantin and Marina Ortiz Pena

Join our Patreon program for $1 per month and you get instant access to recent transcriptions that have been lovingly translated by Angélica Bello from Madrid. https://www.patreon.com/inglespodcast

Thank you to Patricia Alonso who continues working hard to transcribe episodes for you. We now have available episodes 1 to 18 and 131 to 142.

On next week’s episode: NO and NOT

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’
Photo by Thomas Charters on Unsplash