The Passive Voice in French

This section explains The Passive Voice in French. The passive voice (La voix passive) is used when the focus is on the action itself or the recipient of the action, rather than the person or thing performing the action. It is formed with a form of the verb être (to be) + the past participle of the main verb.

Foundation Tier Explanation

Forming the Passive Voice:

• The passive voice is formed using the verb être in the correct tense (e.g. present, perfect, imperfect) + the past participle of the main verb.
• The subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence.
• The agent (the person or thing performing the action) is sometimes included with the preposition par (by), but it’s often omitted when it’s not necessary or relevant.

Example:

• Active: "Le professeur explique la leçon."
  (The teacher explains the lesson.)
• Passive: "La leçon est expliquée par le professeur."
  (The lesson is explained by the teacher.)

Examples in Different Tenses (Foundation Tier):

• Present tense:
  • Active: "Les enfants mangent le gâteau."
    (The children eat the cake.)
  • Passive: "Le gâteau est mangé par les enfants."
    (The cake is eaten by the children.)
• Perfect tense:
  • Active: "Marie a lu le livre."
    (Marie has read the book.)
  • Passive: "Le livre a été lu par Marie."
    (The book has been read by Marie.)
• Imperfect tense:
  • Active: "Ils parlaient anglais."
    (They were speaking English.)
  • Passive: "L'anglais était parlé par eux."
    (English was being spoken by them.)

Higher Tier Explanation

Passive Voice with Different Tenses:

At the higher level, you'll need to use a wider variety of tenses in the passive voice, including the future, conditional, and subjunctive. Here are some examples:

• Future tense:
  • Active: "Elle écrira une lettre."
    (She will write a letter.)
  • Passive: "Une lettre sera écrite par elle."
    (A letter will be written by her.)
• Conditional tense:
  • Active: "Ils donneraient une réponse."
    (They would give an answer.)
  • Passive: "Une réponse serait donnée par eux."
    (An answer would be given by them.)
• Subjunctive tense:
  • Active: "Il faut que nous finissions les devoirs."
    (It is necessary that we finish the homework.)
  • Passive: "Il faut que les devoirs soient finis."
    (It is necessary that the homework be finished.)

Passive Voice without an Agent:

In many cases, the agent (the person or thing performing the action) is not included in the passive sentence, especially when it is not important or when it is clear from the context who is performing the action.

Example:

• Active: "Ils ont réparé la voiture."
  (They repaired the car.)
• Passive: "La voiture a été réparée."
  (The car has been repaired.)
  (Note: We don’t need to say "by them" because it’s understood.)

Using Reflexive Verbs in the Passive:

Reflexive verbs, which in English often use “oneself” or “each other,” can also be used in the passive voice, but the construction is slightly different. Instead of using être, we use the verb se in the passive.

Example:

• Active (reflexive): "Ils se parlent."
  (They talk to each other.)
• Passive: "Ils sont parlés."
  (They are talked to.)
  (Note: The reflexive form is not always directly translated into a passive form in English, but it can be in French.)

Important Notes to Remember:

• Agreement of the Past Participle:
  In the passive voice, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject.
  For example:
  • "Les fenêtres sont ouvertes."
    (The windows are opened.)
    (feminine plural subject = "ouvertes")
• Omission of the Agent:
  In many cases, the agent is not needed in the passive sentence, especially when it's general or unimportant.
  • "La maison a été construite."
    (The house was built.)
    (We don’t need to say “by the workers” because it's obvious who built it.)

Summary Chart:

By understanding and practising the passive voice, you will be able to express actions with a different emphasis, which is especially useful for formal or academic writing in French.