Infinitive structures with THINK, BELIEVE, SEEM, CONSIDER, UNDERSTAND, KNOW, REPORT, SAY, EXPECT
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Passive |
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People say that he speaks French |
He is said to speak French (It is said that he speaks French)
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People say that he spoke French |
He is said to have spoken French (It is said that he spoke French)
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People say that he has spoken French |
He is said to have spoken French (It is said that he has spoken French)
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Mary says that he is learning French now |
He is said to be learning French now (It is said that he his learning …)
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People expect that he will come here next week |
He is expected to come next week (It is expected that he will come next week) |
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SEEM and APPEAR are used without the verb BE
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Present Tense in the main clause
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It seems that he is staying in France now. It seems that he is ill |
He seems to be staying in ….. |
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He seems to be ill |
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It seems that he was ill |
He seems to have been ill |
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It seems that he was staying in France for 2 weeks. |
He seems to have been staying in France for 2 weeks. |
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It seems that he has been ill |
He seems to have been ill |
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Past Tense in the main clause
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It seemed that he was ill |
He seemed to be ill |
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It seemed that he had been ill |
He seemed to have been ill |
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It seemed that he had been working as a journalist |
He seemed to have been working as a journalist |