Avoiding mention of the person speaking or thinking

7.64 There are a number of report structures which you can use if you want to avoid saying whose opinion or statement you are giving.

use of passives to express general beliefs 7.65 If you want to indicate or imply that something is an opinion which is held by an unspecified group of people, you can use a passive form of a reporting verb with 'it' as the impersonal subject.

It is assumed that the government will remain in power.

In former times it was believed that an enlarged tonsils should be removed.

It is now believed that foreign languages are most easily taught to young children.

It was said that he could speak their language.

Here is a list of reporting verbs which are used in the passive with 'it' as their subject:

accept acknowledge admit agree allege announce argue assert assume believe claim comment

concede conclude confirm consider decide decree discover estimate expect explain fear feel

find foresee forget guarantee hold hope imply know mention note notice object

observe predict propose realize recall reckon recommend record remember report request reveal

rule rumour say state stipulate suggest suppose think understand

This structure has much in common with a phase structure using a passive reporting verb and a 'to'-infinitive clause. In the phase structure, the main person or thing involved in the reported opinion is put as the subject of the reporting verb.

Intelligence is assumed to be important.

He is said to have died a natural death.

He is believed to have fled to France.

Note that the 'to'-infinitive is most commonly 'be' or 'have', or a perfect infinitive.

Here is a list of reporting verbs, from the list above, which are also used in the phase structure:

agree allege assume believe claim

consider discover estimate expect feel

find guarantee hold know observe

predict reckon report rumour say

think understand

7.66 If you want to say that something appears to be the case, you can use either of the verbs 'seem' and 'appear'. These verbs can be used as reporting verbs followed by a 'that'-clause or they can be used with a 'to'-infinitive clause. You can be giving your own opinion or that of someone else.

If you want to mention an apparent fact you can use 'seem' or 'appear', followed by a 'that'-clause. The subject of 'seem' or 'appear' is 'it', used impersonally.

It seemed that she had not been careful enough.

It seemed that he had lost his chance to win.

It appears that he followed my advice.

Alternatively, you can use a phase structure involving 'seem' or 'appear' and a 'to'-infinitive clause. The main person or thing involved in the fact that appears to be true is put as the subject of the reporting verb.

She seemed to like me.

He appears to have been an interesting man.

The system appears to work impartially.

If you want to mention the person whose viewpoint you are giving, you can add a prepositional phrase beginning with 'to' after 'seem' or 'appear'.

It seemed to him that I was not yet suitable.

It seems to me to be a remarkable pronouncement.

7.67 There are a few expressions containing impersonal 'if' which are used as reporting clauses before 'that'-clauses to indicate that someone suddenly thought of something: 'It occurred to me', 'It struck me', and 'It crossed my mind'.

It occurred to him that he hadn't eaten anything since the night before his capture.

It crossed my mind that somebody must have been keeping things secret.