Virtuous English Academy
Advanced Passive Voice and Causative (B2)
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- #Grammar
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This lesson extends the passive to advanced structures such as passive reporting verbs (it is said that…) and refines the causative. These forms are essential for formal and academic English.
At B2 the passive becomes a tool for managing information flow rather than a transformation exercise. English places known information early in the sentence and new information late, and the passive is what lets you honour that pattern when the grammatical subject would otherwise be new.
Three advanced structures matter most: the reporting passive used throughout journalism and academic writing, the passive infinitive and gerund, and the causative extended into its full range of tenses and meanings. Each appears constantly in the reading texts used at B2 level.
The causative also broadens. Beyond have and get something done, B2 requires the person-focused patterns — have someone do, get someone to do, make someone do — which differ in how much authority or persuasion they imply. Choosing among them conveys the power relationship, not just the action.
How to form Advanced Passive and Causative
| Structure | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Reporting passive (impersonal) | It is + participle + that | It is believed that talks have stalled. |
| Reporting passive (personal) | Subject + is + participle + to | Talks are believed to have stalled. |
| Passive infinitive | to be + participle | She expects to be promoted. |
| Perfect passive infinitive | to have been + participle | He claims to have been misquoted. |
| Passive gerund | being + participle | She dislikes being interrupted. |
| Causative — service | have/get + object + participle | We had the system audited. |
| Causative — persuasion | get + person + to + infinitive | I got him to reconsider. |
| Causative — authority | have/make + person + bare infinitive | She had them rewrite it. They made him apologise. |
Advanced Passive and Causative: the key rules
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Impersonal passives report beliefs elegantly: It is said that… / She is said to be…
The manuscript is believed to be over 800 years old.
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The pattern subject + passive + to-infinitive shifts smoothly across tenses.
He is thought to have fled the country. (past reference → to have + participle)
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Get + participle forms an informal passive for events, often misfortunes.
Their flight got cancelled twice.
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The full causative family: have/get something done (arrange), have someone do / get someone to do (make it happen through a person).
I'll have the assistant book the room. / I'll get the assistant to book the room.
When to use Advanced Passive and Causative
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Managing information flow
The passive keeps known information at the start of the sentence and new information at the end.
The proposal was rejected by a committee nobody had consulted.
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Reporting unverified claims
Standard in journalism, where the source is unknown or deliberately unattributed.
The company is understood to be considering redundancies.
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Academic and technical register
Passive infinitives and gerunds are frequent where agency is irrelevant.
The samples need to be refrigerated. Being tested regularly is a condition of the licence.
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Signalling authority in the causative
Make implies force, have implies authority, get implies persuasion.
They made him resign. She had her team redo it. I got them to agree.
have someone do vs. get someone to do vs. make someone do
All three cause an action, but they encode very different relationships between the people involved.
have / make — authority or force
Both take a bare infinitive. Have implies you have the standing to instruct; make implies compulsion.
The editor had me rewrite the opening. Security made us empty our bags.
get — persuasion or effort
Takes to plus infinitive. Implies you had to convince or arrange rather than simply instruct.
I finally got the landlord to fix the heating.
Advanced Passive and Causative in example sentences
- It is thought that the fire started accidentally.Impersonal reporting passive.
- The fire is thought to have started accidentally.Personal reporting passive with a perfect infinitive.
- He is alleged to have falsified the accounts.Common in legal and journalistic register.
- Nobody likes being criticised in public.Passive gerund after like.
- The documents need to be signed before Friday.Passive infinitive after need.
- We had the contract reviewed externally.Causative service structure.
- She got her supervisor to extend the deadline.get + person + to — persuasion.
- The regulator made them publish the data.make + bare infinitive — compulsion.
Advanced Passive and Causative in a real conversation
Note how the reporting passives avoid naming a source, and how the causatives signal authority.
Editor:What's the line on the resignation?
Reporter:She's understood to have been asked to step down.
Editor:By whom?
Reporter:It's believed the board made her go, but nobody will confirm it.
Editor:Have it checked by legal before we run anything.
Reporter:Already done. I got their counsel to look at it this morning.
Common mistakes (and how to fix them)
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It is said that he to be a millionaire.
He is said to be a millionaire. / It is said that he is a millionaire.
The two impersonal patterns cannot be spliced — choose 'It is said that + clause' or 'subject + is said + to-infinitive'.
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I got my brother clean the garage.
I got my brother to clean the garage.
Get + person requires the to-infinitive; only have takes the bare form (I had my brother clean it).
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The bridge is being built since 2022.
The bridge has been being built since 2022. / Construction has been under way since 2022.
Since + present reference needs a perfect form; better still, rephrase — English avoids the clumsy double being.
Practise Advanced Passive and Causative today
Focus on the two reporting-passive structures — they are the highest-value B2 patterns here.
- Rewrite six claims using both the impersonal and the personal reporting passive.
- Write four sentences with passive infinitives and four with passive gerunds.
- Write six causatives — two with have, two with get, two with make — and note the implied relationship.
- Find three reporting passives in a news article and identify what each one avoids stating.
Advanced Passive and Causative: frequently asked questions
How do I convert between the two reporting-passive structures?
Start from It is said that she owns three companies. Move the subject of the that clause to the front, keep the reporting verb passive, and turn the remaining verb into an infinitive: She is said to own three companies. If the reported action is earlier than the reporting, use a perfect infinitive: She is said to have owned three companies. This transformation is a standard B2 exam task.
What is the difference between have someone do and have something done?
Have something done focuses on the service and leaves the provider unmentioned: I had the car serviced. Have someone do names the person and uses a bare infinitive: I had the mechanic service the car. The first is far more common because the identity of the provider is usually irrelevant. Note that get uses to in the person pattern — I got the mechanic to service it.
Why does make lose its bare infinitive in the passive?
It is an irregularity in English. Active make takes a bare infinitive — They made him wait — but the passive restores to: He was made to wait. Let has no passive at all; English substitutes be allowed to instead. These two verbs are the main exceptions in the causative system and are regularly tested precisely because they are irregular.
Is the passive appropriate in academic writing?
Yes, where the agent is genuinely irrelevant or unknown, and it remains standard in methods sections of scientific papers. However many disciplines and journals now encourage the active voice with we for clarity and accountability. The safest approach is to use the passive deliberately — when the process matters more than the actor — rather than as a default register marker.