Advanced Passive – English Grammar Exercises for B2
You and your friends are sitting on the porch late at night, gossiping about the creepy, abandoned house at the end of the street. Nobody knows the absolute truth, but everyone has heard the wild rumors and terrifying stories about what happens to people who get too close!
Choose the best answer (A, B, C, or D) to complete each sentence.
1 Have you heard the stories? ______ that the old mansion at the end of our street is cursed.
(A) It says
(B) It is said
(C) There is said
(D) They are said
2 The mysterious man who used to live there ______ to be a dark wizard by the local kids.
(A) rumors
(B) is rumored that
(C) gets rumored
(D) is rumored
3 Last Halloween, some teenagers sneaked into the garden and ______ by the thorny black rose bushes.
(A) had torn their jackets
(B) got their jackets tear
(C) had their jackets torn
(D) made their jackets torn
4 The local council wants to demolish the building, but they can’t ______ because of a weird historical preservation law.
(A) get it to tear down
(B) get it torn down
(C) get it tear down
(D) get torn down it
5 ______ to be a hidden basement full of antique gold coins right under the main floorboards.
(A) There is said
(B) It is said
(C) It says
(D) There says
6 According to my grandmother, the original family ______ the town suddenly in the middle of the night fifty years ago.
(A) are believed that they fled
(B) believe to have fled
(C) is believed to flee
(D) is believed to have fled
7 A paranormal investigator went there last week and ______ while he was recording in the dark hallway.
(A) got his camera to smash
(B) had smashed his camera
(C) had his camera smashed
(D) had his camera smash
8 In the late 1990s, ______ that strange green lights were glowing from the attic window every Friday the 13th.
(A) it was often reported
(B) there was often reported
(C) it often reported
(D) was often reported
9 Listen carefully! Do you hear those footsteps? The spirits ______ the upstairs corridors right now.
(A) are thought wandering
(B) are thought to wander
(C) are thought to be wandering
(D) think to be wandering
10 I wouldn’t go near the iron gates after midnight if I were you, or you might ______ by the invisible entity.
(A) get your hair pull
(B) get your hair pulled
(C) have pulled your hair
(D) get your hair to pull
11 The mayor ______ years ago, but somehow they are always mysteriously wide open the next morning.
(A) had the rusty gates securely locked
(B) had the rusty gates securely lock
(C) had securely locked the rusty gates
(D) got the rusty gates to lock securely
12 The devastating fire that ruined the top floor ______ deliberately by a jealous neighbor, not by a ghost.
(A) suspects to have been started
(B) is suspected to have started
(C) is suspected that it was started
(D) is suspected to have been started
13 Nobody has dared to live there for decades because the property ______ a hub for dark energy.
(A) is widely considered to be
(B) is widely considered that it is
(C) widely considers to be
(D) is widely considered being
14 My brother tried to take a brick from the wall as a souvenir, but he ______ from his hand by an unseen force.
(A) had knocked the brick
(B) had the brick knocked
(C) got the brick to knock
(D) had the brick knock
15 By the time the police finally arrive to check the noise complaints tonight, the phantoms ______ into thin air.
(A) are expected to vanish
(B) are expected that they will vanish
(C) expect to have vanished
(D) are expected to have vanished
16 The old grandfather clock in the dusty hallway ______ without any winding mechanism since 1888
(A) is claimed to have ticked
(B) claims to have been ticking
(C) is claimed to have been ticking
(D) is claimed to be ticking
17 If the town council hadn’t ignored the structural warnings, they wouldn’t ______ by the recent storm.
(A) have had the roof blow off
(B) have had the roof blown off
(C) have got the roof to blow off
(D) had the roof blown off
18 Not only ______ to be haunted, but the soil around it is also considered completely toxic.
(A) does the mansion say
(B) is it said the mansion
(C) the mansion is said
(D) is the mansion said
19 The previous owner, a reclusive millionaire, ______ alive in the secret basement by his fierce rivals.
(A) is alleged to have buried
(B) is alleged to be buried
(C) is alleged to have been buried
(D) alleged to have been buried
20 Because of all these terrifying rumors, the current inheritor is trying to ______ by the city as a ‘hazardous zone’ so he can abandon it legally.
(A) get the land officially classified
(B) get the land officially classify
(C) make the land officially classified
(D) have officially classified the land
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) It is said
- Why it’s correct: The impersonal passive structure It is + V3/ed + that… is used to introduce a general rumor or belief.
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake (Active voice implies the house itself is speaking). (C) Strong Distractor (“There is” cannot be used with a “that” clause in this way). (D) Structural Error (“They” is an invalid dummy subject here).
2 (D) is rumored
- Why it’s correct: The personal passive structure Subject + be + V3/ed + to V indicates what people say about the subject.
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake (Active voice implies the man is spreading rumors about himself). (B) Structural Error (Cannot use “that” when the subject has been raised to the front of the sentence). (C) Strong Distractor (“Get rumored” is unnatural for stative beliefs).
3 (C) had their jackets torn
- Why it’s correct: The causative passive have + object + V3/ed is used here to describe a negative experience or misfortune (having their clothes ripped by bushes).
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake (Past Perfect Active means the teenagers deliberately tore their own jackets). (B) Structural Error (“Tear” is the base verb, missing the V3 form “torn”). (D) Strong Distractor (“Make” is not used in this causative structure).
4 (B) get it torn down
- Why it’s correct: The causative get + object + V3/ed expresses the intention to have someone else (demolition workers) destroy the building.
- Error Analysis: (A) Strong Distractor (Active meaning: forcing the building to tear something else down). (C) Structural Error (“Tear” is not the V3 form). (D) Structural Error (Incorrect word order).
5 (A) There is said
- Why it’s correct: A variation of the impersonal passive There is said to be… (People say that there exists…).
- Error Analysis: (B) Strong Distractor (If you use “It is said”, it must be followed by “that there is”, not “to be”). (C) Structural Error (Active voice). (D) Common Mistake (Active voice with “There”).
6 (D) is believed to have fled
- Why it’s correct: The action of fleeing happened 50 years ago (in the past), prior to the current belief. Therefore, the Perfect Infinitive (to have V3/ed) must be used.
- Error Analysis: (A) Strong Distractor (Mixing the dummy “it” structure with the raised subject structure). (B) Structural Error (Missing the passive auxiliary “is”). (C) Common Mistake (“To flee” implies a present or future action, failing to capture the past context).
7 (C) had his camera smashed
- Why it’s correct: Causative passive have + object + V3/ed to describe falling victim to an accident or malicious act (his camera was destroyed).
- Error Analysis: (A) Strong Distractor (Means he persuaded his camera to smash something else). (B) Common Mistake (Past Perfect Active means he aggressively smashed his own camera). (D) Structural Error (“Smash” lacks the -ed suffix for V3).
8 (A) it was often reported
- Why it’s correct: Impersonal passive describing a past habit of reporting: It + was + V3/ed + that…
- Error Analysis: (B) Strong Distractor (“There” is the wrong dummy subject for a “that” clause). (C) Common Mistake (Active voice; “it” cannot actively report). (D) Structural Error (Missing the subject “it”).
9 (C) are thought to be wandering
- Why it’s correct: The context “right now” requires the Continuous Infinitive (to be V-ing) after the passive reporting verb to emphasize an action happening at this exact moment.
- Error Analysis: (A) Structural Error (Missing “to”). (B) Common Mistake (“To wander” states a general fact, failing to capture the ongoing, immediate nature of the action). (D) Structural Error (Missing the passive auxiliary “are”).
10 (B) get your hair pulled
- Why it’s correct: Causative passive get + object + V3/ed used after a modal verb (“might”) to warn of a potential misfortune.
- Error Analysis: (A) Structural Error (“Pull” lacks the -ed). (C) Common Mistake (Present Perfect Active means you have pulled your own hair). (D) Strong Distractor (Implies you persuade your hair to pull something).
11 (A) had the rusty gates securely locked
- Why it’s correct: Causative passive have + object + V3/ed indicating the mayor hired or ordered workers to lock the gates for him.
- Error Analysis: (B) Structural Error (“Lock” is not V3). (C) Common Mistake (Past Perfect Active implies the mayor personally went down and locked the gates himself). (D) Strong Distractor (Implies the gates locked themselves automatically).
12 (D) is suspected to have been started
- Why it’s correct: A complex passive structure: The suspicion is present (is suspected), but the fire was started in the past (to have), and the action itself is passive (been started).
- Error Analysis: (A) Structural Error (Missing passive “is”). (B) Common Mistake (Active perfect infinitive implies the fire started something else). (C) Strong Distractor (Incorrect grammatical mix of structures).
13 (A) is widely considered to be
- Why it’s correct: A standard impersonal passive construction Subject + be + considered + to V.
- Error Analysis: (B) Strong Distractor (Mixing the “It is considered that” structure with the raised subject). (C) Common Mistake (Active voice means the property is thinking). (D) Structural Error (Cannot use a gerund “being” after “considered” in this passive form).
14 (B) had the brick knocked
- Why it’s correct: Causative passive for a misfortune (he experienced the brick being knocked out of his hand).
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake (Past Perfect Active means he actively knocked the brick out of his own hand). (C) Strong Distractor (Means he caused the brick to knock something). (D) Structural Error (“Knock” lacks -ed).
15 (D) are expected to have vanished
- Why it’s correct: The phrase “By the time…” indicates an action that will be completed before a future point, requiring the Perfect Infinitive (to have V3/ed) after the passive reporting verb.
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake (“To vanish” doesn’t carry the “already completed” perfect aspect). (B) Strong Distractor (Grammatically flawed structure). (C) Structural Error (Missing passive “are”).
16 (C) is claimed to have been ticking
- Why it’s correct: The word “since 1888” indicates an action that started in the past and is still continuing. Therefore, the Perfect Continuous Infinitive (to have been V-ing) is required.
- Error Analysis: (A) Strong Distractor (Perfect simple implies the ticking has finished). (B) Structural Error (Active voice). (D) Common Mistake (Continuous simple misses the past duration “since”).
17 (B) have had the roof blown off
- Why it’s correct: Inside a Third Conditional sentence (wouldn’t have + V3), the verb “have” in the causative structure turns into “had”, resulting in wouldn’t have had the roof blown off.
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake (“Blow” is not the V3 form; it must be “blown”). (C) Strong Distractor (Implies they intentionally persuaded the roof to fly away). (D) Structural Error (Missing the base auxiliary “have” required by the conditional structure).
18 (D) is the mansion said
- Why it’s correct: When a sentence begins with the negative adverbial phrase “Not only,” the subject and auxiliary verb must be inverted (is the mansion said instead of the mansion is said).
- Error Analysis: (A) Structural Error (Uses “does/say” which is active voice). (B) Strong Distractor (Wrong word order for inversion). (C) Common Mistake (Fails to apply the inversion rule entirely).
19 (C) is alleged to have been buried
- Why it’s correct: The allegation is present (is alleged), but the horrific act of being buried happened in the past (to have) and the millionaire was the victim of the action (been buried).
- Error Analysis: (A) Common Mistake (Active perfect implies the millionaire buried someone else alive). (B) Strong Distractor (“To be buried” focuses purely on the current state, but “by his rivals” emphasizes the past action). (D) Structural Error (Missing “is”).
20 (A) get the land officially classified
- Why it’s correct: The causative structure get + object + V3/ed describes the owner’s attempt to convince the city authorities to perform a legal action on his behalf.
- Error Analysis: (B) Structural Error (“Classify” lacks the -ed suffix). (C) Strong Distractor (“Make” is not used for arranging official services/acts). (D) Common Mistake (Incorrect word order; implies the inheritor is classifying it himself).
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 The Impersonal Passive (Rumors & Gossip)
- Purpose: This structure is essential for gossiping, reporting news, or sharing myths when you don’t know (or don’t want to say) exactly who started the rumor. It adds a layer of mystery and objectivity.
- Structure 1 (The Dummy ‘It’): It + is/was + said/rumored/reported + that + Clause
- Example: It is said that the house is cursed.
- Structure 2 (The Raised Subject): Subject + be + said/rumored/reported + Infinitive
- Simultaneous (Happening generally or in the future): Use to V. (He is rumored to be a wizard).
- Continuous (Happening right now): Use to be V-ing. (The spirits are thought to be wandering).
- Past (Happened before the rumor): Use to have V3/ed. (The family is believed to have fled).
- Past Passive: Use to have been V3/ed. (He is alleged to have been buried).
2 The Causative Passive (Misfortunes vs. Services)
- Structure: Subject + get / have + Object + Past Participle (V3/ed)
- Usage 1 (Misfortunes / Accidents): When sharing scary stories or bad luck, use this structure to show that someone was the victim of an action outside their control.
- Example: He had his camera smashed. (He didn’t do it; a ghost or an accident did it to him).
- Usage 2 (Delegating Services): When someone arranges or pays for a professional to do a job.
- Example: The mayor had the gates locked. (The mayor didn’t use a padlock himself; he ordered workers to do it).