Have I used the “SAID TO BE” construction correctly in the following sentence?
Hi friends,

Have I used the “said to be” construction correctly in the following sentence?

Active: They said there was a bomb in the hotel.
Passive: A bomb was said to have been in the hotel.

Is it correct to say "A bomb was said to have been in the hotel" ?

Thanks in advance,
Niwantha

Question

Have I used the “SAID TO BE” construction correctly in the following sentence?
Hi friends,

Have I used the “said to be” construction correctly in the following sentence?

Active: 	They said there was a bomb in the hotel.
Passive: 	A bomb was said to have been in the hotel.

Is it correct to say  "A bomb was said to have been in the hotel" ?

Thanks in advance,
Niwantha

Answer

yes it is correct and great use of the Passive Voice!

Answer

"a bomb was said to have been in the hotel" would be the equivalent past perfect, i.e. at the time of speaking, it's known that there was no bomb.

"a bomb was said to be in the hotel" - no-one knows whether there was or not.

In either tense, this construction gives the feeling of a rumour, i.e. casts suspicion on the proposition.

But yes, the simple aswer is that you've used it correctly, with the caveat of tense mentioned above.

Answer

Yes! You use the passive voice correctly

Answers · 6