Reporting verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis.s expressing opinion

In case of reporting verbs expressing opinion (assume, expect, suppose, think etc.) usually it is the main clauseA clause that could be a sentence in itself. E.g.: I wouldn’t go there if I were you. ("I wouldn't go there") When I arrived he was surfing. ("he was surfing") that is negated.

If the reporting and the reported actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does something happen at the same time, we use simple or continuousThe aspect expressing duration, formed with be + verb-ing. E.g.: What are you doing? infinitives.

This football coach is said to be strict but fair. (= They say this football coach is strict but fair.)

If the reported actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does something happens earlier than the reporting itself, we use perfectThe aspect expressing completion. E.g.: He’s finished university. or perfect continuousThe aspect expressing duration, formed with be + verb-ing. E.g.: What are you doing? infinitives.

He is believed never to have smiled at anyone. (= They believe he (has) never smiled at anyone.)

Everybody knows that my grandfather likes red wine.

In indirect speech, if we want to avoid the use of the general subjectThe person or thing that performs the action of a verb or that is described by a verb. E.g.: Andy has never been to Brunei. ("Andy")s everybody, they, people, one etc., we often use the passive voiceThe form of the transitive verb that shows whether the subject acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice)., especially with reporting verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis.s such as believe, know, say, think, assume, claim, consider, find, presume or report.

The agentThe doer of an action; the person or the thing that does something. E.g.: True Romance was written by Tarantino. ("Tarantino"), which is the subjectThe person or thing that performs the action of a verb or that is described by a verb. E.g.: Andy has never been to Brunei. ("Andy") of the active sentence, is the person or thing that performs the actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does something and it may or may not be mentioned in the passive sentence. If it is, it is preceded by the preposition by.

In an active sentence the basic word order is S-V-O (subjectThe person or thing that performs the action of a verb or that is described by a verb. E.g.: Andy has never been to Brunei. ("Andy"), verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis. and objectA person or thing that is affected by the action of a verb or involved in the result of an action.). When we transform it into the passive voiceThe form of the transitive verb that shows whether the subject acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice)., the word order remains the same but the object of the active sentence (1) becomes the subject of the passive sentence and the subject of the active sentence (2) (the doer of the actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does something) may or may not be mentioned. (See table below.)

There are three types of participle: the present participle (writing), the past participle (written) and the perfectThe aspect expressing completion. E.g.: He’s finished university. participle (having written). The present and the perfect participles also have a passive form (being written and having been written).