In English, an active sentence is turned into a passive one (the Passive voice) as follows:
The cat eats the mouse. -> The mouse is eaten by the cat.
Look at passive sentences in French, conjugated in simple tenses (Le Présent, Le Futur, L'Imparfait, Le Conditionnel Présent, Le Passé Simple):
Notice that just like in English, the pattern is as follows:
- The object becomes the subject
- We use the auxiliary être conjugated to one of the simple tenses, followed by the past participle of the verb
- We use the preposition par to introduce the complement.
- We use the auxiliary être conjugated to one of the simple tenses, followed by the past participle of the verb
- We use the preposition par to introduce the complement.
How to go from an active to a passive sentence:
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:
Présent:
Mes amis regardent les oiseaux. -> Les oiseaux sont regardés par mes amis.
Imparfait:
Mon chien regardait les voitures. -> Les voitures étaient regardées par mon chien.
Futur:
Les enfants suivront le guide. -> Le guide sera suivi par les enfants.
Note that the past participle agrees with the subject of the auxiliary être.
See also Forming La Voix Passive with compound 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 Braimap today »
