be reported to have sth
fixed phr..fixed phr.. people say that someone has a specific quality or has done something, but it is not 100% certain. You use this when you share news or information that you heard from others.
fixed phr.. A passive construction used to distance the speaker from the veracity of a claim; functions as a hearsay evidential marker. It typically introduces a perfect infinitive or a state in formal journalistic or academic registers.
The company is reported to have financial problems.
The missing hikers are reported to have a satellite phone, giving rescuers hope for a quick recovery.
The ancient manuscript is reported to have several missing pages that could potentially alter our understanding of the entire historical period.
Commonly used in news reporting to avoid legal liability or to indicate that information is unverified.
This is a 'distancing' structure; teach it alongside other passive reporting verbs like 'be said to' or 'be thought to' to help students master formal news writing.
It is reported to have problems.The car is reported to have problems.When using this specific structure, the subject of the report must be the subject of the sentence, not a dummy 'it'.