It is said/He is said to – When do we use it?

We can use two unique passive voice forms to express other people’s opinions. We use these passive forms formally (often in news reports).

Active:

• People say this performance is dull.

Passive:

• a) It is said that this performance is dull. (a clause)
• b) This performance is said to be dull. (an infinitive)

These structures can be used with a variety of verbs, such as: say, believe, know, find, expect, report, consider, think, claim, suppose, understand, assume, estimate, etc.