Sometimes, who did it matters less than what happened. "The apple was eaten."
Up until now, you have mostly used the **Active Voice**, where a subject performs an action directly (e.g. *Le chat mange la souris* → The cat eats the mouse).
But sometimes, you want to focus on the **receiver** of the action (e.g. "The mouse is eaten by the cat"). This is called the **Passive Voice** (**La Voix Passive**).
Let's review our three vocabulary anchors:
To build a present tense passive sentence, use this simple formula:
Let's hear this in action:
Look away from the screen. What is the French word for "mouse"? What is its "sorry" mnemonic? Write the active-to-passive formula in your head.
1. What does the word "souris" mean?
2. Translate: "par"
3. Reconstruct: "The mouse is eaten by the cat." (souris is feminine singular)
Question 1: Correct Answer: B. *Souris* means a mouse (think of *sorry*).
Question 2: Correct Answer: A. *Par* means "by" or "through" in passive voice sentences.
Question 3: Correct Answer: A. "La souris est mangée par le chat" is the passive structure. Option B is active voice ("The cat eats the mouse").
Because the past participle in a passive sentence describes the **subject receiving the action**, it acts exactly like an adjective.
This means you **MUST add agreement letters** to the past participle to match the gender and quantity of the subject!
Think of a balance scale. On the left side sits the **Subject** (*La souris* → feminine singular). On the right side sits the **Past Participle** (*mangé*).
To balance the scales, you must add a silent **"e"** to the past participle (*mangé**e***)! If the subject is plural (*les souris*), you must add **"es"** (*mangé**es***) to make the scales align.
Let's study our next vocabulary anchor:
Let's examine how the spelling changes based on the subject:
Look away from the screen. What is the French word for "apple"? Why do we spell "eaten" differently in "La pomme est mangée" than in "Le livre est mangé"? Explain using the scales analogy.
1. How is "eaten" spelled when the subject is "Les pommes" (feminine plural)?
2. What is the feminine singular form of the past participle "écrit" (written)?
3. Reconstruct: "The apples are eaten by Paul."
Question 1: Correct Answer: A. Since *pommes* is feminine plural, the past participle must end in *-es* (*mangées*).
Question 2: Correct Answer: A. To make *écrit* feminine, add a silent "e" to the end, forming *écrite*.
Question 3: Correct Answer: A. *Les pommes* (feminine plural) requires the verb *sont* and the agreed participle *mangées*. Thus: *Les pommes sont mangées par Paul*.
How do we say that something **was done** or **has been done** in the past?
In the past tense, we conjugate the helper verb **être** into its past form (**a été** for singular, **ont été** for plural), followed by the past participle.
Let's study our next three vocabulary anchors:
Let's hear how these sound in past passive sentences:
Look away from the screen. What is the past participle of *lire*? What does *a été* mean? Recite its "eight" mnemonic.
1. Translate the past helper: "a été"
2. How do you say "The books were read by Marie"? (books = masculine plural)
3. Reconstruct: "The letter was written." (la lettre is feminine singular)
Question 1: Correct Answer: B. *A été* means "was" or "has been". Remember the number *eight* mnemonic.
Question 2: Correct Answer: A. Since *livres* is masculine plural, the helper verb is *ont été* and the past participle is *lus* (with an "s" for agreement).
Question 3: Correct Answer: B. *La lettre* is feminine singular, so we must add the feminine "e" to the past participle *écrit* resulting in *écrite*.
How do we say that something **will be done** in the future?
In the future tense, we conjugate the helper verb **être** into its future simple form (**sera** for singular, **seront** for plural), followed by the past participle.
Let's study our next three vocabulary anchors:
Let's hear how these sound in future passive sentences:
Look away from the screen. What is the future form of "will be"? Recite its "Que sera" song mnemonic. Translate "to sell" and "house" aloud.
1. Translate: "sera"
2. Fill in the blank: "La maison sera ____ (vendre)." (The house will be sold.)
3. Reconstruct: "The books will be sold." (books = masculine plural)
Question 1: Correct Answer: B. *Sera* means "will be" (think of "Que sera, sera").
Question 2: Correct Answer: A. *Maison* is feminine singular. Therefore, the past participle of *vendre* (*vendu*) must add an "e" for agreement, forming *vendue*.
Question 3: Correct Answer: A. *Les livres* is masculine plural. Thus, the helper is *seront* and the participle is *vendus* (with an "s" for agreement).
Toggle different tenses and click the button to see active sentences physically transform into passive ones.
Select controls and click the Transform button.
A news anchor reports the daily updates using passive voice structures.
Le président a été élu hier soir par une large majorité.
(The president was elected last night by a large majority → past passive).Une nouvelle loi sera votée demain par le parlement.
(A new law will be voted on tomorrow by the parliament → future passive / law is feminine).Cette décision est critiquée par l'opposition.
(This decision is criticized by the opposition → present passive / decision is feminine).In French public administration and news media, the Passive Voice is used extensively to convey an objective, detached, and diplomatic tone.
For example, saying: Votre demande a été rejetée. [voh-truh duh-mahnd ah ay-tay ruh-zhe-tay] (Your request has been rejected) sounds much more formal and less direct than: *Nous avons rejeté votre demande* (We rejected your request).
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Test your mastery of the Passive Voice. Grade is informational only.
1. What is the passive translation of: "The cat eats the mouse"? (mouse = *la souris*, cat = *le chat*)
2. Choose the correct spelling for: "The apples were eaten." (*les pommes* = feminine plural)
3. What does "Le livre sera écrit par Marc" mean?
4. Translate: "The houses will be sold." (*les maisons* = feminine plural)
5. In the passive sentence "La lettre est écrite par Paul", what does the extra "e" in "écrite" agree with?
1. The mouse is eaten by the cat. (Clue: feminine singular agreement of *manger*)
2. The books were read. (Clue: past passive plural helper meaning "were" → *ont été*)
3. The house will be sold. (Clue: feminine singular past participle of *vendre* → *vendue*)
4. The decisions are criticized. (Clue: feminine plural agreement of *critiquer* → *critiquées*)
5. A new law will be voted on. (Clue: singular future helper meaning "will be" → *sera*)
1. Translate: "The apple is eaten by Paul." (Clue: apple is *la pomme*, is is *est*, eaten is *mangée*, by is *par*)
2. Translate: "The book was written." (Clue: book is *le livre*, was is *a été*, written is *écrit*)
3. Translate: "The house will be sold." (Clue: house is *la maison*, will be is *sera*, sold is *vendue*)
4. Translate: "The mouse was eaten." (Clue: mouse is *la souris*, was is *a été*, eaten is *mangée*)
5. Translate: "The book will be read." (Clue: book is *le livre*, will be is *sera*, read is *lu*)
1. B is correct. "La souris est mangée par le chat." Because *souris* is feminine singular, the participle must take an "e" (*mangée*).
2. B is correct. *Les pommes* is feminine plural, so we conjugate the helper as *ont été* and add *-es* to the participle (*mangées*).
3. C is correct. *Le livre sera écrit par Marc* means Marc will write it (future simple helper *sera*).
4. A is correct. *Les maisons* is feminine plural. Thus, future plural is *seront* and the participle is *vendues*.
5. B is correct. Agreements in passive voice sentences always match the subject receiving the action (*la lettre*).
1. mangée — eaten (agrees with feminine singular *souris*).
2. ont été — were (past helper for plural *livres*).
3. vendue — sold (agrees with feminine singular *maison*).
4. critiquées — criticized (agrees with feminine plural *décisions*).
5. sera — will be (future helper for singular *loi*).
1. La pomme est mangée par Paul. (Present passive with feminine singular agreement).
2. Le livre a été écrit. (Past passive for masculine singular).
3. La maison sera vendue. (Future passive with feminine singular agreement).
4. La souris a été mangée. (Past passive with feminine singular agreement).
5. Le livre sera lu. (Future passive with masculine singular participle).