Forming La Voix Passive with simple tenses (passive voice)

Hi Gregory,

Actually, the imperfect is correct and you answered in the passé composé.

Bob a été réveillé... -- a été is passé composé of être
Bob était révaillé... -- était is imperfect of être

You need the imperfect in this sentence because the action is repeated over a longer period (...was awaken every day...)

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Hi Gregory,

The tense you used in 'a été réveillé ' is the perfect tense ( passé composé).

The imparfait 'était réveillé' is correct as the action is repetitive.

e.g.

J'ai été réveillé par les éboueurs dans la nuit = I was woken up/awaken by the rubbish collectors last night (One action in the past done and dusted.)

compared with - 

John était réveillé par les éboueurs toutes les nuits = John was woken up/awaken  by the dustmen every night  (Repetitive action which happened every night.)

Hope this helps!

Bonjour John !

I think here you're mixing Le Passé Composé (or Futur Antérieur to be exact) and the passive voice :)

You are correct that in compound tenses, -er verbs use avoir, but here Le Passif is not a tense, but rather a perspective.

Indeed, if you look at the two sentences, the difference is who is doing the action:

Un lion chassera une antilope.   -> the lion is hunting.

Une antilope sera chassée par un lion.  -> the antilope is being hunted.

Now look at the sentence you suggested:

Une antilope aura chassé par un lion.  -> An antilope will have hunted by a lion.

-> Here the sentence has a complete different meaning and is actually incorrect :)

I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !

Merci Aurélie, Now it's clear as long as I remember your useful examples

John

Bonjour Skylar,
I am in agreement with you on the voix passive form for this phrase. It does not define precisely whose cat it is. Perhaps something like:
Le chat de Marie or something similar since in the original locution, it clearly is Marie's cat that she is caressing.
However, I am uncertain exactly how to express that in French that Marie was caressing her own cat. Perhaps Aurélie or Laura can help out here.

Bonjour Nancy,
First let's look at the notes in the lesson:
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 regardent les oiseaux. -> Les oiseaux sont regardés par mes amis.
Présent Présent
Mon chien regardait les voitures. -> Les voitures étaient regardées par mon chien.
Imparfait Imparfait
Les enfants suivront le guide. -> Le guide sera suivi par les enfants.
Futur Futur
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As can bee seen from the lesson and the examples, the tense of the verb will be the same in the passive voice phrase as in the original phrase.
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Now let's look at forming the passive voice with compound tenses:
*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
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Again the same rule as above applies, that is, the tense or mood of the original phrase is kept
in the passive voice phrase. So, to say this another way, no matter the tense or mood in the primary phrase, it dictates the tense or mood in the second, the passive voice phrase.
I hope this clarifies this somewhat for you
Bonne chance et j'espère que cela vous aidera.

Bonjour Tom,
That is correct in the use of the passive voice suivi de would change to suivi par.
Sylvie a été suivi par un chien.
Bonne chance,

I am confused.
I've been studying la voix passive, however, I encountered something that I do not understand. Please explain.
On the lesson for la voix passive with simple tenses, there is a sample: The students were welcomed by the headteacher every year. In French, les étudiants étaient accueillis par le directeur tous les ans.
And the quiz I did, there is a sentence: The students were welcomed by the headteacher this morning. Because there was no "étaient", I chose "Les étudiants ont été accueillis par le directeur ce matin.
Which is correct? les étudiants étaient accueills OR les étudiants ont été accueillis??
Merci beaucoup.
umi

I'll give it a try at explaining it:

In the sentence, where the students were welcomed every year, this relates to a repeated action in the past and therefore merits the imparfait tense. Hence, étaient accueillis.

In the quiz, where the students were only welcomed once this morning, the use of the perfect tense is indicated since it is only a one-time occurence. Hence, ont été accueillis.

-- Chris.

Dear Chris,

Thank you very much for your input! Yes, what you wrote makes sense!!!!