What is Advanced Passive Voice in English?
Basic passive voice is used when the receiver of an action is more important than the doer (e.g., The ball was kicked). Advanced passive voice takes this a step further by employing complex grammatical structures—such as impersonal reporting verbs, verbs with double objects, and causative forms—to introduce high-level nuance, strict objectivity, and formal distance. This is highly prevalent in journalism, academic research, and professional business communication where explicitly stating "who" did the action is unnecessary or diplomatically sensitive.
Advanced Passive Voice Structure and Formula
Advanced passive structures depart from the simple Subject + Be + Past Participle. Here are the standard formulas used in sophisticated writing.
1. Impersonal Passive (Reporting Verbs)
Used to report general thoughts, beliefs, or knowledge without attributing them to a specific person. Common reporting verbs include say, believe, think, know, report, claim.
- Formula: It + Be + V3/V-ed (of reporting verb) + that + Clause
- Example: It is believed that the economy will improve next year. (Compare: People believe that...)
2. Personal Passive (Reporting Verbs)
A more elegant way to report general beliefs, making the subject of the reported clause the subject of the entire sentence.
- Formula: Subject + Be + V3/V-ed (of reporting verb) + to-infinitive (to + V1 / to have + V3)
- Example (Present Idea): The economy (S) is believed to improve (to + V1) next year.
- Example (Past Idea): The suspect (S) is known to have left (to have + V3) the country.
3. Passive with Two Objects (Direct and Indirect)
When a verb (like give, offer, tell, send, teach, pay, promise) has two objects, either can become the new subject. However, using the indirect object (the person) is much more common.
- Formula (Indirect Object as Subject): S (Person) + Be + V3/V-ed + Direct Object
- Example: She (S) was offered a new job.
- Formula (Direct Object as Subject): S (Thing) + Be + V3/V-ed + to/for + Indirect Object
- Example: A new job (S) was offered to her.
4. Causative Passive Voice
Used when you arrange and pay for someone else to perform a service for you.
- Formula: S + have/get + Object + V3/V-ed
- Example: I (S) had my hair (Object) cut (V3) yesterday.
- Example: We are getting our house painted.
How to Tell the Difference Between "Be" Passive and "Get" Passive
The Get-Passive is a conversational alternative to the standard Be-Passive.
* Formula: S + get/got + V3/V-ed
* Usage Difference: The Be-passive is neutral and formal (He was arrested). The Get-passive is informal and often implies that the action was unexpected, slightly negative, or that the subject had some involvement in making it happen (He got arrested).
When to Use Advanced Passive Voice
- Formality and Objectivity: In academic and scientific writing to strip away personal bias. (The data was analyzed...)
- Tact and Diplomacy: To avoid pointing fingers or assigning blame. (Mistakes were made... instead of You made mistakes.)
- Cohesion: To keep the grammatical subject consistent across multiple sentences in a paragraph without jarring shifts.
Real-life Examples of Advanced Passive Voice Usage
- Journalism: "The CEO is rumored to be stepping down." (Personal Passive)
- Academic Writing: "It has been hypothesized that the virus mutates rapidly." (Impersonal Passive)
- Everyday Speech: "I need to get my phone fixed." (Causative Passive)
Summary & Cheatsheet for Advanced Passive Voice
| Structure | Dual-Syntax Formula | Real-World Example |
|---|---|---|
| Impersonal | It + be + V3 + that clause | It is said that he is rich. |
| Personal | S + be + V3 + to + V1 | He is said to be rich. |
| Double Object | S (person) + be + V3 + O | I was given a warning. |
| Get-Passive | S + get/got + V3 | My bike got stolen. |
| Causative | S + have/get + O + V3 | She had her dress cleaned. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do teachers sometimes say the passive voice is bad?
Basic writing programs often discourage the passive voice because it can make sentences wordy, vague, or weak (e.g., The apple was eaten by me instead of I ate the apple). However, in advanced professional writing, science, and journalism, the passive voice is essential for creating an objective, formal tone.
Is "I got my car stolen" a causative passive?
Grammatically, it looks identical to the causative passive (S + get + O + V3), but semantically it is a "passive of experience." You didn't arrange or pay someone to steal your car; it represents a misfortune that happened to you.
Can all verbs be turned into the passive voice?
No. Only transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object, like kick, eat, buy) can be made passive. Intransitive verbs (verbs without an object, like sleep, arrive, die) cannot be passive. You cannot say He was died.