1. Impersonal passive II Medio 2015

2. Information: It’s used to express an opinion, a belief or a fact. It’s used in formal language (essays, journalism, etc.)

3. Form: It to be (in present or past) known believed thought that When it’s a fact. Something we’re sure it is true. When it’s a thought or a belief. Something we think could be true.

4. Example: FACT in the present It to be (in present or past) knownthat When it’s a fact. Something we’re sure it is true. Statement: ‘Slaughtering horses for human consumption is prohibited in some states in the USA.’  This is a fact because we know and we are sure that it is true. So, to put these words into a more formal language we use IMPERSONAL PASSIVE. Ex. It is known that slaughtering horses for human consumption is prohibited in some states in the USA.  We use IS and not WAS because it’s something that is still prohibited in the USA at the present.

5. Example: FACT in the past It to be (in present or past) that When it’s a fact. Something we’re sure it was true. Statement: ‘Absinthe was banned in the early 1900s.’  This is a fact because we know and we are sure that it was true. So, to put these words into a more formal language we use IMPERSONAL PASSIVE. Ex. It was known that Absinthe was banned in the early 1900s.  We use IS and not WAS because it’s something that was prohibited in the past. Its consumption is allowed in the present. known

6. Example: BELIEF in the present It to be (in present or past) that When it’s a belief. Something we think could be true. Statement: ‘Tea is believed to be discovered by the Chinese’. Ex. It is believed that tea was discovered by the Chinese.  We use IS and not WAS because it’s something that is still believed in the present. believed

7. Example: THOUGHT in the present It to be (in present or past) that When it’s a thought. Something we think could be true. Statement: ‘People think that if you see a black cat, you’ll have bad luck’. Ex. It is thought that if you see a black cat, you’ll have bad luck.  We use IS and not WAS because it’s something that is still thought by some people in the present. thought