Language/French/Grammar/Active-Voice-and-Passive-Voice

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Active Voice & Passive Voice in French

How to form the Active and Passive Voice in French[edit | edit source]

The active voice presents the subject as the agent of the action.

Example:

  • Nos amis construisent une maison.

Our friends are building a house.

By reversal, the passive voice presents the subject as an agent undergoing the action.

Example:

  • Une maison est construite par nos amis.

A house is built by our friends.

→ Passive transformation is only possible with verbs which accept a indirect object complement (transitive verbs).

It cannot be used in the passive voice when:

→ The verb of the sentence does not admit an additional object.

It is an intransitive verb (tomber, courir, rire, nager...) (to fall, run, laugh, swim ...)

→ The verb of the sentence must be constructed with an indirect object complement (parler de, penser à, croire en...) (talking about, thinking about, believing in ...)

Example:

  • Pierre pensait à son inscription à la faculté de médecine.

Pierre was thinking about his enrollment in the faculty of medicine.

This sentence cannot be transformed in the passive voice.

The verb in the passive voice consists of two parts:

  1. The auxiliary "être", which is combined according to the mode, the time, the person and the number.
  2. The past participle of the verb, which indicates the action.

Conjugation Active and Passive Voice: Aimer (to love)[edit | edit source]

ACTIVE VOICE (voix active) PASSIVE VOICE (voix passive)
Tenses French Translation French Translation
Present (le présent) J'aime I love Je suis aimé(e) I am loved
Imperfect (l'imparfait) J'aimais I loved J'étais aimé(e) I was loved
Future (le futur) J'aimerai I would love Je serai aimé(e) I will be loved
Perfect (le passé composé) J'ai aimé I have loved J'ai été aimé(e) I was loved
Conditional (le conditionnel) J'aimerais I would love Je serais aimé(e) I would be loved
Past conditional (le conditionnel passé) J'aurais aimé I would have loved J'aurais été aimé(e) I would have been loved
Imperative (l'impératif) aime ! love! Sois aimé(e) Be loved

Video - Active versus Passive voices in French[edit | edit source]

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