The Advanced Passive
Beyond was made — the passive structures that mark formal, objective English: impersonal reporting (it is said that…), the causative (have something done), and passive infinitives.
Press a button. Make it impersonal.
Advanced English reports a claim without naming who said it. Switch the reporting verb and the structure, and watch the same idea become impersonal and formal.
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Why the advanced passive matters
At C1, the passive is a tool for register and focus, not just a transformation. It lets you sound objective, report claims without naming a source, foreground the action rather than the doer, and say that you arranged for something to be done.
The same news, three levels of distance: Active: The committee has rejected the proposal. Passive: The proposal has been rejected. (focus on the proposal; doer hidden) Reported passive: The proposal is said to have been rejected. (distancing — an unverified claim)
Key advanced passive patterns
Five structures separate confident C1 writers from the rest.
Impersonal reporting passive
Use it to: report a claim neutrally, without naming a source. Common verbs: say, believe, think, know, report, expect, consider, allege.
The causative: have / get something done
Use it to: say that you arranged for someone else to do something — not that you did it yourself. It can also describe an (often unwelcome) experience.
Passives with two objects
Use it to: choose your focus. With verbs that take two objects, you can start with the person or the thing — English usually prefers the person.
Passive infinitives & gerunds
Use it to: keep the passive after another verb or a preposition. Note that need + -ing carries a passive meaning (= needs to be done).
The agent (by…) — keep or cut?
Use it to: add by + agent only when the doer is important, surprising, or specific. Otherwise leave it out — hiding the doer is the whole point of the passive.
The golden rule — and the traps
Choose the passive for a reason, and watch the verbs that don’t behave.
Use the passive on purpose — for objectivity, focus, or to arrange an action — never as a default. If naming the doer makes the sentence clearer or stronger, stay active.
Practice & score yourself
Ten questions — reporting passives, the causative, and passive infinitives. Instant scoring and a full explanation for every answer.
Part A — Choose / transform
The one rule to remember
The advanced passive is about register and focus: use it to sound objective and impersonal (It is believed that…, He is said to…), to put the action centre-stage, and to say you arranged for something (have / get something done). Keep the agent (by…) only when it adds real information.