When the action matters more than the doer
In news reports, recipes, museum labels and contracts, who did something is often beside the point. What happened is the story. That is what the passive is for – la voix passive.
In the switch, the direct object of the active sentence moves to the front and becomes the subject: Zola a écrit ce livre becomes ce livre a été écrit par Zola.
Active becomes passive
Zola a écrit ce roman.
Zola wrote this novel. (active)
Ce roman a été écrit par Zola.
This novel was written by Zola. (passive)
Les billets sont vendus en ligne.
The tickets are sold online.
The tense lives in être
This works just like English: the participle never changes, only the auxiliary moves. Where English shifts is / was / will be, French shifts est / était / sera.
Le courrier - in five tenses
| Tense | Passive | English |
|---|---|---|
| présent | le courrier est distribué | the mail is delivered |
| passé composé | le courrier a été distribué | the mail was delivered |
| imparfait | le courrier était distribué | the mail was delivered (every morning) |
| plus-que-parfait | le courrier avait été distribué | the mail had been delivered |
| futur simple | le courrier sera distribué | the mail will be delivered |
active: on distribue le courrier / passive: le courrier est distribué
The same build in sentences
Les résultats sont publiés chaque vendredi.
The results are published every Friday.
La décision a été prise hier soir.
The decision was made last night.
Le nouveau stade sera inauguré en juin.
The new stadium will be opened in June.
The participle agrees
After être the participle behaves like an adjective: -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for feminine plural. English never does this, so it is easy to forget. In compound tenses été stays unchanged; only the last participle agrees.
Marie est invitée chez Paul.
Marie is invited to Paul's place.
Cette chanson a été écrite par une inconnue.
This song was written by an unknown woman.
Les fenêtres ont été ouvertes ce matin.
The windows were opened this morning.
The agent - par or de?
Most passive sentences name no agent at all – that is the whole point: Le magasin a été cambriolé. Name it only when it carries real information. Then English by is usually par. After verbs of feeling and with states, French often uses de instead.
Two ways to say 'by'
par - a concrete action
La vitre a été cassée par un enfant.
The window was broken by a child.
Le repas est préparé par le chef lui-même.
The meal is prepared by the chef himself.
de - feeling and state
Elle est aimée de tous ses collègues.
She is liked by all her colleagues.
La place est entourée de cafés.
The square is surrounded by cafés.
Where the passive runs out - on
French uses the passive far less than English does. Where you would say it was decided or the shop was robbed, everyday French often uses on (they / people / someone): On parle français au Québec. There is also a hard limit: only a direct object can become the subject. English happily says I was given a bike or he was told the truth, but an object with à (donner à, dire à, demander à) cannot move to the front. Use on.
Where you need on
On m'a offert un vélo.
I was given a bike.
On lui a dit la vérité.
He was told the truth.
On nous a demandé d'attendre.
We were asked to wait.
