Take the fastest path to fluent French
In English, an active sentence is turned into a passive one (the Passive voice) as follows:
The cat is eating the mouse. -> The mouse is being eaten by the cat.
Look at passive sentences in French, conjugated in compound tenses (Le Passé Composé (Indicatif), Le Plus-que-Parfait (Indicatif), Le Futur Antérieur (Indicatif), Le Conditionnel Passé):
Notice that just like in English, the pattern is as follows:
- The object becomes the subject
- We use the auxiliary verb être conjugated in a compound tense*, followed by the past participle of the verb
- We use the preposition par to introduce the complement.
Note that the past participle agrees with the subject of the auxiliary être.
*In order to turn a sentence from active to passive voice, the tense of the auxiliary être must be the same as the tense of the main verb of the active sentence.
For example:
Mes amis ont regardé les oiseaux. -> Les oiseaux ont été regardés par mes amis.
Passé Composé Passé Composé
Mon chien avait regardé les voitures. -> Les voitures avaient été regardées par mon chien.
Plus-que-Parfait Plus-que-Parfait
Les enfants auront suivi le guide. -> Le guide aura été suivi par les enfants. Futur Antérieur Futur Antérieur
See also Forming La Voix Passive with simple tenses in French (French Passive Voice)
Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »
