The professor is said ___ a genius when young.
1) that he was
2) to have been
This is a question from a English forum. OP asks he thinks both seems correct, but why is the answer 2) (maybe in his certain book) not correct. I also get the curiosity why 1) cannot be the answer.
Number 2 is correct, and means that there are people who currently say that in the past, the professor was young and a genius.
Number 1 doesn't make sense. I think they're trying to trick you, because if you make a minor change and remove the is, then 1 is correct and 2 is not:
The professor said that he was a genius when young.
This means that the professor himself claims that he was a genius. It's all a bit awkward; I'd prefer when he was young to simply when young.
For some reason, I cannot comprehend the first option.
(X) The professor is said that he was a genius when young.
The above sentence does not make any sense to me.
While with second option:
The professor is said to have been a genius when young.
Makes at least a little sense.
With the first option merged in the sentence, there is no clarity who said that the professor was a genius. Maybe, remove the word is after the subject and the first option would be a fit. Other than that, it doesn't make sense to me.
As for the second option, it makes more sense when it's put together in the sentence, as it means that someone else (or a rumour) said that the professor was a genius.
