0
Belly Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Reported speech

It was believed that the report had been inaccurate

Can I rewrite it, starting with "the report" like the following:

The report was believed to have been inaccurate

or

The report was believed to had been inaccurate

orT

he report was believed had been inaccurate

?
  

Top answer

Only sentence 1 is correct. e. "to have" + past participle).

— NewPhilologist

  • Only sentence 1 is correct.
  • e.
  • "to have" + past participle).
  • Compare: The report is believed to be accurate .
  • The present infinitive is used here, because the sentence is in the present tense
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

4 Answers
0
Only sentence 1 is correct. In this case, "was believed" needs to be followed by a past infinitive (i.e. "to have" + past participle). Compare:

The report is believed to be accurate.

The present infinitive is used here, because the sentence is in the present tense
0
0
This option only: The report was believed to have been inaccurate
0
0
How come, nona? Why should we use "have been" here instead of "had been"?
0
0
It was believed that the report had been inaccurate

The report was believed to have been inaccurate

The verb after 'to' should be 'have', not 'had'.
0

Related Questions