Passive Voice — Advanced Uses and Passive Reporting

Imagine you are reading an editorial in The Hindu about the latest RBI policy, or writing a formal project report for your manager at Infosys. You notice that sentences don’t always start with “The RBI said…” or “I finished the report.” Instead, you see structures like “Interest rates are expected to rise” or “The project has been successfully completed.” In professional and academic Indian contexts—whether it is the UPSC mains, a corporate presentation, or an IELTS essay—knowing how to use the advanced passive voice is the difference between sounding like a school student and sounding like a seasoned professional.

1. The ‘By’ Decision — To Include or Not to Include?

In school, we were taught to always add “by [someone]” at the end of a passive sentence (e.g., “The cake was eaten by Ravi”). However, in professional writing, we often omit the agent (the doer). We only include “by + agent” if the doer is important, surprising, or necessary for the meaning of the sentence. If the doer is obvious, unknown, or unimportant, we leave it out to keep the sentence crisp and professional.

When to Use or Omit the Agent

Situation	Active Voice	Passive Voice (Better)	Why?
Unknown Doer	Someone stole my bike at Mumbai Central.	My bike was stolen at Mumbai Central.	We don’t know who did it.
Obvious Doer	The police arrested the thief.	The thief was arrested.	It’s obvious that only police arrest people.
Unimportant	The workers are repairing the potholes in Delhi.	The potholes in Delhi are being repaired.	The repair is more important than the specific workers.
Surprising/Important	A junior clerk wrote the entire budget.	The entire budget was written by a junior clerk.	The fact that a junior clerk did it is the main news.

2. Passive with Modals

Modals like can, must, should, could, and might add shades of meaning like possibility or necessity. In formal Indian offices, you will often hear these in the passive to make instructions sound more polite or objective. Instead of saying “You must finish this,” a manager might say, “This must be finished.”

Modals in Passive Voice

Modal	Active Example	Passive Example
Must	You must submit the forms by Friday.	The forms must be submitted by Friday.
Should	We should inform the candidates.	The candidates should be informed.
Can	We can resolve this issue easily.	This issue can be resolved easily.
Could have	They could have avoided the accident.	The accident could have been avoided.
Might	The rain might delay the flight to Bengaluru.	The flight to Bengaluru might be delayed by rain.

3. Passive Infinitives

Sometimes we use the infinitive form (to + verb) in a passive way. This is very common after verbs like need, want, expect, or hope. For example, at a college placement cell, you might hear: “Every student wants to be placed in a top MNC.”

For past actions that seem to have happened, use the perfect passive infinitive:

4. Passive Reporting Verbs

This is the most advanced part of the passive voice and is essential for clearing exams like IELTS or writing for newspapers. When we want to report what “people say” or “experts believe” without naming specific individuals, we use passive reporting verbs.

There are two main structures for this:

Structure A: It + Passive Verb + that-clause

This is the easier version. It acts as a formal introduction.

Structure B: Subject + Passive Verb + to-infinitive

This is more sophisticated and common in high-level journalism.

Passive Reporting Verbs in Action

Verb	Structure A (It is...)	Structure B (Subject is...)
Say	It is said that he is a genius.	He is said to be a genius.
Believe	It is believed that they fled to Dubai.	They are believed to have fled to Dubai.
Report	It is reported that the strike is over.	The strike is reported to be over.
Think	It is thought that she is the frontrunner.	She is thought to be the frontrunner.
Know	It is known that the river is polluted.	The river is known to be polluted.

5. The Get-Passive (Informal Style)

In spoken English, especially among friends in cities like Delhi or Mumbai, we often replace “be” with “get.” This is usually used for negative events, sudden changes, or things we do for ourselves.

6. Common Mistakes by Indian Learners

Many learners mix up the active and passive or forget the mandatory Past Participle (V3) form. Here are the most frequent errors:

Correct vs Incorrect Usage

❌ Incorrect	✅ Correct	Why?
The email was send yesterday.	The email was sent yesterday.	Always use V3 (sent), not V1 (send) in the passive voice.
The road is repairing.	The road is being repaired.	“Is repairing” means the road itself is doing the work!
It is believe that...	It is believed that...	Reporting verbs in this structure must be in V3 form.
He was get promoted.	He got promoted OR He was promoted.	Don’t mix ‘was’ and ‘get’ together for the same action.

Summary

Advanced passive voice allows you to speak with authority and objectivity. It is not just about changing the order of words; it’s about choosing the right focus for your audience.

• Use the passive with modals (must be done, can be seen) for formal instructions.
• Use passive infinitives (to be checked) when the action is the goal.
• Use passive reporting verbs (It is reported that...) for academic or journalistic writing.
• Use the get-passive for informal, sudden events in daily conversation.
• Decide whether to include or omit the agent ('by' + someone) based on whether the doer is important or obvious.
• Always ensure you are using the V3 (Past Participle) form of the verb.

Key takeaway: To master this, start reading the editorial page of an English newspaper and highlight every time they use “is said to” or “has been found to.” Try to use one passive modal in your next work email!