Passive Voice in French

In Brief

French forms the passive with a conjugated form of être plus a past participle: La maison a été vendue (“The house was sold”). The participle agrees with the passive subject in gender and number: invité, invitée, invités, invitées. An agent, when stated, is usually introduced by par, but everyday French often prefers an active sentence with on.

Overview

The passive voice presents the person or thing affected by an action as the subject (the part of the sentence that the verb is about). Compare the active Les étudiants lisent le livre (“The students read the book”) with the passive Le livre est lu par les étudiants (“The book is read by the students”). The event is the same, but the focus changes from les étudiants to le livre.

At B1, the most useful skill is to recognize and build the pattern être + past participle. A past participle is a verb form such as lu (“read”), vendu (“sold”), or écrit (“written”). French uses passive constructions in news reports, rules, descriptions of processes, and formal writing, especially when the result matters more than the person responsible.

The French passive resembles the English “be + past participle,” but the two languages do not use it with exactly the same frequency. English often uses a passive where conversational French chooses on: “I was told that…” is commonly On m’a dit que…, not J’ai été informé que… in an ordinary conversation.

How It Works

Turning an active sentence into a passive sentence

Start with an active sentence:

Les étudiants lisent le livre. subject/doer + verb + direct object

A direct object is the person or thing directly affected by the verb, without a preposition such as à or de. To make the sentence passive:

1. Move the direct object to subject position: le livre.
2. Put être in the same tense as the active verb.
3. Change the main verb to its past participle: lire → lu.
4. Make that participle agree with the new subject.
5. Add the original doer with par if it is useful.

Le livre est lu par les étudiants.

The agent—the person or thing performing the action—is optional. Le livre est lu is complete if the reader does not need to know who reads it.

Active French	Passive French	What changes
Les étudiants lisent le livre.	Le livre est lu par les étudiants.	Present remains present.
Le comité a accepté la proposition.	La proposition a été acceptée par le comité.	Passé composé remains passé composé.
La mairie annoncera les résultats.	Les résultats seront annoncés par la mairie.	Future remains future.

Agreement of the past participle

In a passive construction, the past participle behaves like an adjective and agrees with the subject. In writing, add -e for feminine, -s for plural, or -es for feminine plural when the regular spelling pattern applies.

Subject	Form of inviter	Example
masculine singular	invité	Paul est invité.
feminine singular	invitée	Léa est invitée.
masculine or mixed plural	invités	Paul et Léa sont invités.
feminine plural	invitées	Léa et Ana sont invitées.

Many endings are silent, so the distinction may be visible only in writing. Some participles have an audible or otherwise irregular feminine form: fait → faite, écrit → écrite, ouvert → ouverte. Agreement still follows the same rule.

Choosing the tense

Only être is conjugated for tense; the past participle continues to agree with the subject.

French form	English	Tense or form
La porte est fermée.	The door is closed / is being closed.	present
La porte était fermée.	The door was closed.	imperfect
La porte a été fermée.	The door was closed / has been closed.	passé composé
La porte sera fermée.	The door will be closed.	future
La porte serait fermée.	The door would be closed.	conditional
La porte doit être fermée.	The door must be closed.	passive infinitive after a modal

A particularly important sequence is a été + participle. Here a été is the passé composé of être, while the final participle carries the meaning of the main verb: La maison a été vendue. Do not remove été.

Which verbs can become passive?

The standard passive is built from a verb that takes a direct object:

• Quelqu’un répare la voiture. → La voiture est réparée.
• Le jury choisira la gagnante. → La gagnante sera choisie.

A verb followed by an indirect object (a complement introduced by a preposition) normally cannot be transformed in the same way. French therefore does not copy English passives such as “He was spoken to.” It recasts them: On lui a parlé (“Someone spoke to him”).

Expressing the agent: par and de

Use par for the actual performer of an action:

• Ce roman a été écrit par Marguerite Duras.
• La route a été bloquée par les manifestants.

De occurs with some verbs expressing a state, feeling, knowledge, decoration, or accompaniment rather than a concrete action: Elle est aimée de tous (“She is loved by everyone”), La salle est décorée de fleurs (“The room is decorated with flowers”). At B1, par is the safe default for a true agent. Learn common de expressions as you encounter them rather than replacing par mechanically.

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
Le livre est lu par tous.	The book is read by everyone.	Present passive with an agent.
La maison a été vendue.	The house was sold.	Feminine agreement; agent omitted.
Elle sera invitée à la cérémonie.	She will be invited to the ceremony.	Future passive.
Les dossiers sont vérifiés chaque matin.	The files are checked every morning.	Repeated procedure.
Cette chanson a été composée en 1998.	This song was composed in 1998.	Focus on the work, not the composer.
Le musée était fermé pour travaux.	The museum was closed for renovations.	A state in the past; context determines the reading.
Les résultats seront annoncés demain.	The results will be announced tomorrow.	Common news style.
Ces règles doivent être respectées.	These rules must be followed.	Passive infinitive after devoir.
La candidate a été choisie par le jury.	The candidate was chosen by the jury.	Agent introduced by par.
Elle est appréciée de ses collègues.	She is appreciated by her colleagues.	De with a feeling or judgment.
On parle français ici.	French is spoken here.	Natural active alternative with on.
On m’a volé mon vélo.	My bike was stolen.	French focuses on the affected person with an indirect pronoun.

Common Mistakes

Leaving the participle unchanged

• Wrong: Les lettres sont envoyé hier.
• Right: Les lettres ont été envoyées hier.
• Why: Lettres is feminine plural, so the participle is envoyées. A completed event yesterday also calls for ont été, not present sont.

Forgetting été in a completed past passive

• Wrong: La maison a vendue.
• Right: La maison a été vendue.
• Why: The passive needs être + participle. In the passé composé, être itself becomes a été.

Copying the tense of the English auxiliary without checking the meaning

• Wrong: La décision est annoncée hier.
• Right: La décision a été annoncée hier.
• Why: Hier points to a completed past event. Use the passé composé passive.

Making an indirect object into a passive subject

• Wrong: Il a été parlé par le directeur for “He was spoken to by the director.”
• Right: Le directeur lui a parlé or On lui a parlé.
• Why: Parler à quelqu’un has an indirect object. The standard French passive requires a direct object.

Using par after every passive-looking expression

• Awkward: Elle est aimée par tous.
• More idiomatic: Elle est aimée de tous.
• Why: Par is normal for an action, but certain verbs of feeling, knowledge, or state often use de. Both may sometimes be grammatical, with usage depending on meaning and style.

Overusing the passive in conversation

• Heavy: Il m’a été dit que le train était annulé.
• Natural: On m’a dit que le train était annulé.
• Why: The passive is possible, but on is usually more conversational when the doer is unknown or irrelevant.

Usage Notes

The passive is especially useful when the affected thing is already the topic, when the agent is unknown, or when the writer deliberately avoids naming responsibility: Des erreurs ont été commises (“Mistakes were made”). It is also common in regulations and instructions: Les téléphones doivent être éteints (“Phones must be switched off”).

In everyday speech, on + active verb is often shorter and more natural. English “French is spoken here” maps neatly to On parle français ici. English personal passives frequently need a different French structure: “I was offered a job” is naturally On m’a proposé un emploi. The pronoun m’ identifies the recipient, while un emploi remains the direct object.

Be aware that être + participle can describe either an action or the resulting state. La porte est fermée may mean “The door is being closed” in a suitable context, but it more often describes the state “The door is closed.” Add context or name an agent if the action itself matters: La porte est fermée par le gardien à vingt heures.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

French has several alternatives that shift meaning or style rather than simply replacing one form with another.

The pronominal passive

A reflexive-looking construction with se can express a general passive meaning, especially for products, rules, and things that are characteristically done:

• Ce vin se boit frais. — “This wine is drunk chilled.”
• Ce mot ne s’emploie plus. — “This word is no longer used.”
• Les billets s’achètent en ligne. — “Tickets are bought online.”

This construction normally describes general practice or possibility, not one specific event with a named agent.

Se faire + infinitive

Se faire + infinitive presents the subject as undergoing an action, often one that affects them personally:

• Elle s’est fait voler son sac. — “She had her bag stolen.”
• Il s’est fait arrêter. — “He got arrested.”

The participle fait remains unchanged before an infinitive in this construction: Elles se sont fait inviter. This is a separate pattern from the ordinary passive and is very common in speech.

Keeping the infinitive passive

After verbs such as devoir, pouvoir, or venir de, the passive may remain in the infinitive:

• Le problème peut être résolu. — “The problem can be solved.”
• Le contrat vient d’être signé. — “The contract has just been signed.”

These compact forms are frequent in formal and practical language. Agreement still applies to the main participle: Les questions peuvent être posées à la fin.

Practice Tips

1. Transform sentences in pairs. Write five active sentences with direct objects, then convert them to passive sentences while preserving the tense. Underline the new subject and circle the agreement ending.
2. Choose between the passive and on. For each English passive you meet, produce two French versions when possible: Le résultat sera annoncé demain and On annoncera le résultat demain. Ask which focus and register fit the context.
3. Build an agreement grid. Reuse one participle with four subjects—le document signé, la lettre signée, les documents signés, les lettres signées—then repeat with irregular participles such as écrit and fait.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Passé Composé — helps you understand forms such as a été vendue and place passive events in the past.