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Revision as of 20:22, 4 December 2021
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Definitions
Pronominal Verbs
Pronominal verbs ("Les verbes pronominaux" in French), of which there are several categories, are verbs that are constructed with a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous) of the same person as the subject.
This pronoun is always placed before the verb.
Active Voice and Passive Voice
→ 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:
- The auxiliary "être", which is combined according to the mode, the time, the person and the number.
- The past participle of the verb, which indicates the action.
Voix active | Voix passive | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Tenses | French | Translation | French | Translation |
Present | J'aime | I love | Je suis aimé (e) | I am loved |
Imperfect | J'aimais | I loved | J'étais aimé (e) | I was loved |
Future | J'aimerai | I would love | Je serai aimé (e) | I will be loved |
Perfect | J'ai aimé | I have loved | J'ai été aimé (e) | I was loved |
Conditional | J'aimerais | I would love | Je serais aimé (e) | I would be loved |
Past conditional | J'aurais aimé | I would have loved | J'aurais été aimé (e) | I would have been loved |
Imperative | aime ! | love! | Sois aimé (e) | Be loved |
Pronominal verbs used as passives
Pronominal verbs are increasingly used in the passive voice:
- Les smartphones se vendent comme des petits pains
Smartphones are selling like hot cakes
- Ces verbes se conjuguent avec l'auxiliaire "être"
These verbs are conjugated with the auxiliary "to be"
- La langue française se parle également en Belgique et au Québec
The French language is also spoken in Belgium and Quebec
- Ce matériel s'achète dans les boutiques spécialisées
This equipment can be purchased in specialized stores
- Les titres du NASDAQ se maintiennent à la Bourse de New York
NASDAQ Stocks Hold on New York Stock Exchange
- Cela ne se fait pas d'agir ainsi dans un restaurant
That is just not done to do that in a restaurant
- Ce Champagne se boit froid
This Champagne is drunk cold
- La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid
Revenge is a meal to be eaten cold
- C'est une revue qui se lit si l'on est concentré
It's a magazine that can be read if you are focused