It is said that . . . / He is said to . . . , etc., and supposed to

UNIT 43  It is said that . . . / He is said to . . . ,  etc., and supposed to

A.   Study this example situation:

This is Mary. She is very old, and nobody knows exactly how old she is. But:

It is said that she is s 108 years old.

She is said to be 108 years old.

Both these sentences mean: "People say that she is 108 years old."

You can also use these structures with:
thought                          believed                       reported                     understood

known                         expected                          alleged                       considered

It is said that Mary eats ten eggs a day.          or             Mary is said to eat ten eggs a day.
 
It is believed that the wanted man is            or             The wanted man is believed to be
living in New York.                                                                 living in New York.

It is expected that the strike will begin         or            The strike is expected to begin
tomorrow.                                                                                 tomorrow.

It is alleged that he stole $100.                         or             He is alleged to have stolen $100.

It was alleged that he stole $100.                    or             He was alleged to have stolen $100.

These structures are often used in news reports:
It is reported that two people were killed   or            Two people are reported to have
in the explosion.                                                                      been killed in the explosion.                        


B.   Supposed to

Sometimes (be) supposed to means ''said to'':

• Let's go and see that movie. It's supposed to be very good. (= It is said to be very good, people say that it's very good.)

• He is supposed to have stolen 100$. (= He is said to have stolen 100$)

But sometimes supposed to has a different meaning. You can use supposed to to say what is planned or arranged and this is often different from what really happens):

• I'd better hurry. It's nearly 8:00. I'm supposed to be meeting Ann at 8:15. (= I arranged to meet Ann, I said I would meet Ann.)

• The train was supposed to arrive at 11:30, but it was 40 minutes late. (= The train should have arrived at 11:30, according to the schedule.)

• You were supposed to clean the windows. Why didn't you do it?

We use not supposed to to say what is not anowed or not advisable:

• You're not supposed to park here. (= You aren't allowed to park here.)

• Mr. Jenkins is much better after his illness, but he's still not supposed to do any heavy work.