Personal Impersonal Passive Exercises Pdf !full!
This feature introduces a comprehensive, downloadable PDF guide for mastering Personal and Impersonal Passive structures—a critical advanced English grammar topic.
📘 Master Passive Structures: Personal & Impersonal Passive PDF Guide
Ever wonder how to sound more formal, objective, and authoritative in English? You probably know basic passive voice (e.g., The report was written), but advanced English requires a shift toward impersonal and personal passive structures.
These structures are essential for academic writing, journalism, and business communication, allowing you to report opinions or facts without needing a specific subject. What is Inside the PDF?
This structured 10-page guide provides everything you need to master this topic:
Clear Definitions: Simple explanations of impersonal (It is thought that...) and personal (He is thought to...) passive structures.
Formulaic Breakdown: Clear diagrams showing how to shift from active voice to personal/impersonal passive.
Targeted Exercises: 40+ practice questions covering various tenses. Answer Key: Detailed explanations for every answer. 🔥 Feature Spotlight: Key Concepts Covered 1. The Impersonal Passive (Objective Reporting)
Used to report opinions or beliefs without focusing on who holds them. Active: People say he is rich. Impersonal: It is said that he is rich. 2. The Personal Passive (Direct Focus)
Used to make a specific person or thing the subject, highlighting them while remaining formal. Active: People believe the company is failing. Personal: The company is believed to be failing. 3. Advanced Tense Changes
The PDF tackles tricky transformations, including how to handle past actions within a passive structure: Active: People believe he stole the money. Personal: He is believed to have stolen the money. 📝 Exercise Sample Transform the sentences using the structure provided:
Active: People believe that the suspect has left the country.
Impersonal Passive: It __________ the suspect has left the country. Active: They expect that the new law will pass soon. Personal Passive: The new law __________ soon. (Answers: 1. is believed that, 2. is expected to pass) 🚀 Get the PDF
Download the comprehensive Personal Impersonal Passive Exercises PDF and start mastering advanced English today. Download the PDF Guide Now
g., intermediate vs. advanced), or perhaps focus more on a specific tense like past or future?
If you provide a topic (e.g., journalism, business, academic reports), I can customize the examples in the guide to better suit your needs.
Personal and impersonal passive constructions are advanced English grammar tools used to report opinions, rumors, or general beliefs without naming a specific source. These forms are common in formal writing, news reports, and academic texts. 1. Understanding the Two Structures personal impersonal passive exercises pdf
These constructions usually follow reporting verbs such as say, think, believe, know, report, expect, consider, and understand.
Impersonal Passive: Uses a "dummy" subject (it) to refer to a whole situation or general thought. Structure: It + passive verb + (that) clause. Example: "It is believed that he is innocent".
Personal Passive: Focuses on the person or thing that is the subject of the belief. Structure: Subject + passive verb + to-infinitive. Example: "He is believed to be innocent". 2. Formulating Tenses in Personal Passive
The form of the infinitive in a personal passive sentence depends on the time relationship between the reporting verb and the action in the that-clause. Personal and Impersonal Passive | explanation and exercises
The rain lashed against the library windows, blurring the world outside into a grey smear. Inside, the air smelled of old paper and desperation. It was the night before the final grammar exam, and the atmosphere in the study hall was thick with tension.
Elias sat with his head in his hands, a heavy textbook open in front of him. The chapter title was bold and unforgiving: The Personal and Impersonal Passive.
"It’s impossible," Elias groaned, pushing the book away. "I’ll never understand this. It’s too abstract."
Across the table, Clara was calmly highlighting a worksheet. She didn’t look up. "It is said that you are dramatic, Elias."
Elias frowned. "What?"
"She just used the impersonal passive on you," chimed in Marcus from the next seat, spinning a pen between his fingers. "It’s a classic move. She took the active idea—'Everyone says Elias is dramatic'—and made it distant and formal."
Clara finally looked up, smiling. "Exactly. People think the passive voice is difficult. Or, to use the impersonal structure: It is thought that the passive voice is difficult."
"I'm lost," Elias admitted. "Why would I write like that? It sounds like a robot."
"Because," Clara said, sliding a printed sheet across the table. "This isn't just about rules. It’s about shifting focus. Sometimes the subject isn't important. Sometimes the action is all that matters."
Elias looked down at the paper. It was a crinkled Personal Impersonal Passive Exercises PDF that Clara had printed from the university portal. The header read Advanced Transformations.
"Let's look at the first exercise," Clara suggested, tapping the paper. "The prompt is: People believe that the old librarian haunts the third floor."
"Okay," Elias said slowly. "I need to change that?" Part 5: Common Mistakes to Avoid (Troubleshooting) Before
"Yes. You have two options," Clara explained. "First, the Impersonal Passive. You focus on the report, not the people. You say: It is believed that the old librarian haunts the third floor."
Elias scribbled it down. "Okay. That sounds like a newspaper headline."
"Good. Now, the second option is the Personal Passive," Clara continued. "You make the librarian the subject. The old librarian..."
Elias hesitated, his pen hovering over the paper. "The old librarian... is believed to haunt the third floor?"
"Bingo," Marcus said, leaning over. "That’s the sophisticated stuff. That’s the structure that gets you an A. Subject + passive verb + to-infinitive."
Elias looked at the sentence. It felt cleaner, more objective. It removed the messy element of "people" and left only the spooky core of the idea.
"Try another one," Clara urged. "Number five. They expect the storm to hit by midnight."
Elias looked out the window at the howling wind. The storm was already there, but he tried to formulate the sentence in his head.
"Okay, impersonal first," Elias said. "It is expected that the storm will hit by midnight."
"Correct," Clara nodded.
"And personal..." Elias paused. "The storm... is expected to hit by midnight."
"Perfect," Clara said. "You're getting it. You're distancing the action from the doer. You're making it objective."
For the next hour, the trio worked through the PDF. The exercises were repetitive, but slowly, the logic began to click in Elias's mind. He stopped seeing the structures as riddles and started seeing them as tools of perspective.
People know that he is a strict professor. -> It is known that he is a strict professor. (Impersonal) People know that he is a strict professor. -> He is known to be a strict professor. (Personal)
As the library clock ticked toward closing time, the librarian approached their table. She was a stern woman with wire-rimmed glasses.
"Everyone expects you to leave now," she said sharply. "We are closing." Forgetting the infinitive in personal passive:
Elias packed his bag, a strange calm settling over him. He looked at the librarian, then at his friends.
"Well," Elias said, standing up. "It is expected that we leave now. Or, I suppose, We are expected to leave."
The librarian raised an eyebrow, a hint of a smirk playing on her lips. "You have been studying the exercises, I see."
As they walked out into the rainy night, clutching the now well-worn PDF, Elias felt a spark of confidence. The grammar wasn't just rules on a page; it was a way of seeing the world. The rain was no longer just falling; it was said to be falling. The exam wasn't just a test; it was feared to be difficult.
But Elias? He was thought to be ready.
Personal and impersonal passives are advanced structures used to report opinions, rumors, or beliefs without naming a specific source . These are common in journalism and academic writing. aprendeinglesenleganes.com Core Structures Impersonal Passive: Focuses on the reported fact itself using a dummy subject. It + be + past participle + that-clause It is believed that he is rich Personal Passive: Focuses on the person or thing being talked about. Subject + be + past participle + to-infinitive He is believed to be rich aprendeinglesenleganes.com Advanced Tense Variations
The form of the infinitive in a personal passive depends on the relationship between the reporting verb and the action: Active Tense Personal Passive Infinitive Present / Future to + infinitive He is said Continuous to be + -ing He is thought to be lying Past / Present Perfect to have + past participle She is reported to have left Past Continuous to have been + -ing They were reported to have been running Practice Exercises & PDFs
The following resources provide structured practice for these transformations: Advanced Passives Review : A comprehensive guide by the British Council covering both forms and modal passives. Passive Structures & Drills : A detailed lesson and exercise sheet from My English Teacher Academic English Passive Guide
: A focused PDF on impersonal passives and nominalization from Academic English UK Grammar Transformation Table
: A direct download for a transformation table and key word exercises from Aprende Ingles en Leganes aprendeinglesenleganes.com Quick Drill Convert the following sentence into both passive forms: impersonal-passive-2.pdf
5. Conclusion
Mastery of Personal and Impersonal Passive constructions is essential for high-level proficiency in English, particularly in academic and professional contexts. The Impersonal Passive allows writers to cite sources or express general consensus without resorting to informal or vague agents. The exercises provided in this paper offer a scaffolded approach to acquiring these structures, moving from basic transformation to complex infinitival manipulation.
Part 5: Common Mistakes to Avoid (Troubleshooting)
Before you download the exercises, check for these three classic errors:
-
Forgetting the infinitive in personal passive:
- Incorrect: He is said arrives late.
- Correct: He is said to arrive late.
-
Using the wrong tense in the infinitive:
- Incorrect: She is thought to finish the project yesterday. (Wrong time)
- Correct: She is thought to have finished the project yesterday.
-
Adding an unnecessary 'to be' with adjectives:
- Incorrect: It is believed to be that the door is locked.
- Correct: It is believed that the door is locked.
Part D: Contextual Gap Fill
Instructions: Fill in the gaps using the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Decide whether the context requires Personal or Impersonal Passive.
The ancient city of Petra 1. __________ (consider) one of the wonders of the world. It 2. __________ (say) that it was established as early as 312 BC. For centuries, it 3. __________ (believe) to be lost, until it was rediscovered in 1812. Today, it 4. __________ (visit) by thousands of tourists annually. It 5. __________ (expect) that visitor numbers will continue to grow.
- Answers:
- is considered
- is said
- was believed
- is visited
- is expected
Part 6: Personal Impersonal Passive Exercises (PDF Preview)
To truly master this topic, you need structured drills. The accompanying "Personal Impersonal Passive Exercises PDF" contains the following exercise types: