Transformation of Active Structures with Reporting Verbs into Passive Voice

The passive voice can be applied to complex active structures involving reporting verbs to shift the perspective or formalize the statement.
This grammatical transformation typically involves sentences that follow a specific pattern: - Active Structure: Subject ( $\text{People}$ , $\text{We}$ , $\text{They}$ , $\text{Somebody}$ , etc.) + Reporting Verb ( $\text{think}$ , $\text{believe}$ , $\text{hope}$ , $\text{say}$ , etc.) + Second Clause (introduced by "that").
There are two primary methods to convert these active structures into the passive voice.

This method uses the dummy subject "It" to represent the general opinion or report.
The passive transformation for this method follows a specific sequence: - Formula: $\text{It} + \text{be-verb} + V_3 + \text{that} + \text{Second Clause}$
In this construction, the "be-verb" must agree with the tense of the reporting verb in the original active sentence.
The " $V_3$ " refers to the past participle of the reporting verb (e.g., "said", "thought", "believed").
The second clause (the "that" clause) remains entirely unchanged from its original active form.
Example: - Active: "People say that he is a doctor." - Passive (Method 1): "It is said that he is a doctor."
Example: - Active: "People think that the old man lives in a hut." - Passive (Method 1): "It is thought that the old man lives in a hut."

This method moves the subject of the subordinate (second) clause to the beginning of the sentence to become the grammatical subject of the passive sentence.
There are two distinct tense-based sub-rules for this method:

This rule is applied if both the main clause (the reporting verb) and the second clause are in the same tense (e.g., both are Present or both are Past).
Formula: $\text{Subject of 2nd Clause} + \text{be-verb} + V_3 + \text{to} + V_1$
Example: - Active: "People say that he is a doctor." - Passive (Method 2): "He is said to be a doctor." - Here, "He" (subject of 2nd clause) is moved to the front. - "Is" (be-verb) matches the present tense of "say". - "Said" ( $V_3$ ) is the past participle of "say". - "To be" ( $\text{to} + V_1$ ) replaces the verb from the second clause.

This rule is applied if the first clause (the reporting verb) is in the Present tense and the second clause is in the Past tense.
Formula: $\text{Subject of 2nd Clause} + \text{be-verb} + V_3 + \text{to} + \text{have} + V_3$
This structure indicates that the action in the dependent clause happened prior to the reporting of the action.
Example based on recorded notes: - Active: "People think that the old man lived in a hut." - Passive (Hybrid/Method 2): "It is thought that that old man have lived in a hut." - Note: In the personal construction specifically, this would traditionally become: "The old man is thought to have lived in a hut."

Case Studie 1: Direct reporting of a current state - Active: "People say that He is a doctor." - Passive 1: "It is said that He is a doctor." - Passive 2: "He is said to be a doctor."
Case Studie 2: Reporting a current belief about a current state - Active: "People think that the old man lives in a hut." - Passive 1: "It is thought that the old man lives in a hut."
Case Studie 3: Reporting a past belief about a past state - Active: "People thought that that old man lived in a hut." - Analysis: Since both clauses are in the past, Method 2 Scenario A applies ( $\text{to} + V_1$ ).
Case Studie 4: Reporting a current belief about a past state - Active: "People think that the old man lived in a hut." - Passive Transformation: "It is thought that that old man have lived in a hut." - Explanation: Uses the "to have + $V_3$ " logic to show the shift from present thinking to a past living situation.