Passive Voice in French

Overview

The passive voice, or voix passive, shifts the focus of a sentence from the doer of the action to the receiver. Instead of saying "Everyone reads the book" (active), you say "The book is read by everyone" (passive). In French, the passive is formed with etre + past participle, much like English uses "to be + past participle."

At the B1 level, understanding the passive voice is important both for producing formal or written French and for comprehending texts where the passive is common -- news articles, academic writing, and official documents. French also has distinctive ways of avoiding the passive, particularly using on, which is worth mastering.

While the structure is straightforward, the key challenge is remembering that the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject, since the auxiliary is always etre.

How It Works

Formation

Subject + etre (conjugated in any tense) + past participle (agrees with subject) + par + agent (optional)

Tense	Active	Passive
Present	On lit ce livre.	Ce livre est lu.
Passe compose	On a vendu la maison.	La maison a ete vendue.
Imparfait	On respectait les regles.	Les regles etaient respectees.
Futur simple	On invitera Marie.	Marie sera invitee.
Conditionnel	On punirait le coupable.	Le coupable serait puni.

The agent (who performs the action)

• Introduced by par (by): Le gateau est fait par ma mere.
• Sometimes by de (with verbs of emotion, state): Il est aime de tous. (He is loved by everyone.)
• The agent can be omitted when unknown or unimportant: La fenetre a ete cassee. (The window was broken.)

Avoiding the passive with on

French often prefers on + active verb over the passive, especially in spoken language:

Passive	Active with on
Le francais est parle ici.	On parle francais ici.
Les billets ont ete vendus.	On a vendu les billets.

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
Le livre est lu par tous.	The book is read by everyone.	Present passive
La maison a ete vendue.	The house was sold.	Passe compose passive
Elle sera invitee.	She will be invited.	Future passive
On parle francais ici.	French is spoken here.	Avoiding passive with on
Les resultats seront annonces demain.	The results will be announced tomorrow.	Future, no agent
Ce tableau a ete peint par Monet.	This painting was painted by Monet.	Agent with par
La loi est respectee par tous.	The law is respected by everyone.	Present passive with agent
Il est connu de tout le monde.	He is known by everyone.	Agent with de
Les enfants ont ete retrouves.	The children were found.	Passe compose, no agent
Cette decision sera prise par le directeur.	This decision will be made by the director.	Future with agent
La porte etait fermee.	The door was closed.	State vs action ambiguity

Common Mistakes

Forgetting past participle agreement

• Wrong: La maison a ete vendu.
• Right: La maison a ete vendue.
• Why: In the passive, the past participle must agree with the subject. La maison is feminine singular, so vendu becomes vendue.

Using the passive with intransitive verbs

• Wrong: Il a ete alle. (trying to make a passive of aller)
• Right: Not possible -- aller has no passive form.
• Why: Only transitive verbs (those that take a direct object in the active voice) can be made passive. Intransitive verbs like aller, venir, dormir cannot.

Confusing passive with passe compose using etre

• Ambiguous: Elle est partie. -- Is this passive or passe compose?
• Answer: This is passe compose (she left), not passive. The passive would be Elle est invitee (she is invited) -- from a transitive verb.
• Why: Many verbs use etre in the passe compose (partir, aller, venir). These are not passive forms. Passive forms come from transitive verbs.

Overusing the passive in spoken French

• Stiff: La tarte a ete mangee par Pierre.
• Natural: Pierre a mange la tarte. or On a mange la tarte.
• Why: French spoken language strongly prefers active constructions. Use the passive mainly in writing, formal contexts, or when the agent is unknown.

Usage Notes

The passive voice has a clear register dimension in French:

• Formal writing (journalism, academic, legal): passive is common and expected
• Spoken French: passive is relatively rare; speakers prefer on + active verb or reflexive constructions (ca se fait, ca se dit)
• Se faire + infinitive is another common alternative: Il s'est fait voler (He got robbed)
• Some reflexive forms function as pseudo-passives: Ce vin se boit frais (This wine is drunk chilled), Ca ne se fait pas (That's not done)

The distinction between par and de for the agent is subtle: par is used for actions, while de appears with states and emotions (aime de, respecte de, connu de, entoure de). In modern French, par is increasingly used in both cases.

Practice Tips

1. Take five active sentences from a French news article and transform them into passive. Then transform them back. This two-way practice builds flexibility.
2. Practice the on alternative by rewriting passive sentences: Les billets ont ete vendus becomes On a vendu les billets. This is often more natural in French.
3. Pay attention to past participle agreement -- write passive sentences with feminine and plural subjects to drill the endings: Les lettres ont ete envoyees, la decision a ete prise, les portes seront ouvertes.

Related Concepts

• Passe Compose -- uses etre for some verbs, which can be confused with passive