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Osama91 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Passive Voice

Hi,
The correct answer for this sentence-"They report that over 6000 people were killed in the tsunami"- rewritten in the passive voice is; "over 6000 people are reported to have been killed in the tsunami".
Why? I understand that the first part is simple present, and therefor "are reported" is correct, but the second part in the original sentence is simple past, so why it's been done as "have been killed" ? and why "are reported to be killed" is also wrong?
Thank you,

Osama
  

Top answer

osama91 They report that over 6000 people were killed in the tsunami They report [ something ]. becomes [ something ] is reported by them. So you might say that this is the passive version: [That over 6000 people were killed in the tsunami] is reported by them.

  • osama91 They report that over 6000 people were killed in the tsunami They report [ something ].
  • becomes [ something ] is reported by them.
  • So you might say that this is the passive version: [That over 6000 people were killed in the tsunami] is reported by them.
  • But when the subject is so long, and especially when it's a that -clause, we substitute "it" and move the clause to the end, like this: [It] is reported by them [that over 6000 people were killed in the tsunami].
  • You might remove "by them" if it's not important to what you want to say: It is reported that over 6000 people were killed in the tsunami.
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2 Answers
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osama91They report that over 6000 people were killed in the tsunami
They report [ something ].

becomes

[ something ] is reported by them.

So you might say that this is the passive version:

[That over 6000 people were killed in the tsunami] is reported by them.

But when the subject is so long, an

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