Voix passive - French Passive Voice
Voice is a grammatical term which indicates the relationship between a subject and verb. There are three different voices in French (and English).
In the passive voice, the action described by the verb
is being done to the subject by an agent.
| Active Voice | |
| David fait le ménage. | David is doing the housework. |
| Lise lit le livre. | Lise is reading the book. |
| Tout le monde le respecte. | Everyone respects him. |
| Mes amis aiment ma mère. | My friends love my mother. |
| Passive Voice | |
| Le ménage est fait par David. | The housework is done by David. |
| Le livre est lu par Lise. | The book is read by Lise. |
| Il est respecté de tout le monde. | He is respected by everyone. |
| Ma mère est aimée de mes amis. | My mother is loved by my friends. |
Notes:
- When the verb expresses an action, the agent is introduced by the preposition par, as in the first two passive voice examples, above.
- When the verb expresses a state of being, the agent is often introduced by de, as in the last two passive voice examples.
La voix passive is formed
with the conjugated verb être + the past participle. The past
participle has to agree with
the subject, not the agent,
in gender and number, just like être
verbs in the passé composé (more about agreement):
| La vaisselle est faite par Chantal. | The dishes are done by Chantal. |
| Les enfants sont nourris par Luc. | The kids are fed by Luc. |
La voix passive exists in all tenses and moods:
| Voix active | Voix passive | |
| présent | Anne fait la tarte | la tarte est faite par Anne |
| passé composé | Anne a fait la tarte | la tarte a été faite par Anne |
| imparfait | Anne faisait la tarte | la tarte était faite par Anne |
| futur | Anne fera la tarte | la tarte sera faite par Anne |
| subjonctif | ...qu'Anne fasse la tarte | ...que la t. soit faite par Anne |
| et cetera | ||
Note that the passive voice always has one more verb than the active voice.
| Passive Voice: Usage Test |
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