The passive voice in French is the opposite of the active voice, and it is formed using the auxiliary verb être(to be) and a French past participle. Where the active voice concentrates on who performs an action, the passive voice, or le passif in French, focuses on the object rather than the subject. Look at these examples to see the difference:
In the active voice, the subject Les frères Lumière does the action ont inventé on the object le cinéma. What matters most in the active voice is who does the action.
Les frères Lumière ont inventé le cinéma en 1894.
The Lumière brothers invented the cinema in 1894.
In the passive voice, it is the other way around. The object le cinéma becomes the subject, but it still undergoes the action a été inventé performed by an agent par les frères Lumière.
Le cinéma a été inventé par les frères Lumière en 1894.
The cinema was invented in 1894 by the Lumière brothers.
What matters in the passive voice is what is done; you don’t need to specify the agent (who’s done it) because the focus is on the receiver of the action:
Le cinéma a été inventé en 1894.
The cinema was invented in 1894.
In this post we’ll explore first how to form the passive voice, and then when you’ll use it, along with some alternatives to use instead. Let’s get going!
To form the passive voice in French, you will need a couple of tools:
The conjugation of the French auxiliary être (to be) in all tenses and moods .
The rules of agreement of the French past participle .
A list of verbs which express a state or feeling.
Are you puzzled? Let’s clarify all this right now!
The first thing you need to remember to form the French passive voice is the formula below:
être(to be)
past participle
par(by) + agent
Le rôle principal est joué par Omar Sy dans la série Lupin.
The main character is played by Omar Sy in the series Lupin.
Notice the difference between the passive sentence above and its active counterpart:
Active voice:
Omar Sy joue le rôle principal dans la série Lupin.
Omar Sy plays the main character in the series Lupin.
Passive voice:
Le rôle principal est joué par Omar Sy dans la série Lupin.
The main character is played by Omar Sy in the series Lupin
As you can see:
The object in the active voice (le rôle principal) corresponds to the subject in the passive voice.
The subject in the active voice (Omar Sy) does not become the object in the passive voice, but is instead introduced by par(by).
The preposition introducing the agent changes when using French verbs expressing states and feelings, as opposed to verbs describing an action:
être(to be)
past participle
de(by) + agent
Elle est est appréciée de tous ses étudiants.
She is liked by all her students.
When you’re using pronouns with passive verbs, you need to look at the role the pronoun plays in the passive sentence, not an active sentence. That means that you need to use a subject pronoun for the subject of a passive sentence, even though you would use an object pronoun to replace that noun if the sentence was active.
Let’s have a look at an example:
Active voice |
|---|
object pronoun Julie a fait le gâteau. → Julie l’a fait. Julie made the cake → Julie made it. |
Passive voice |
|---|
subject pronoun Le gâteau a été fait par Julie → Il a été fait par Julie. The cake was made by Julie → It was made by Julie. |
We follow the same rule in English! You wouldn’t say: ❌ “Him was caught,” you’d say ✅ “He was caught.”
In French, only the direct objects of transitive-direct verbs can be used as subjects in the passive voice. This is a major difference between passives in English and passives in French.
A transitive-direct verb is a verb that does not require a preposition to introduce the direct object. For example, préparer(to prepare) is a transitive-direct verb:
Le boulanger prépare le pain. → Le pain est préparé par le boulanger.
The baker prepares the bread. → The bread is prepared by the baker.
Because le pain is the direct object in the active voice, it can become the subject in the passive voice.
The objects of transitive-indirect verbs, however, cannot similarly be made the subject of a passive. Transitive-indirect verbs have objects that must be introduced by a prepositionNo definition set for prepositionLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. For example sourire(to smile) is a transitive-indirect verb, because its object is introduced by a preposition, à:
✅ Pauline a souri à Raphaël. → ❌ Raphaël a été souri par Pauline.
Pauline smiled at Raphaël. → Raphaël was smiled (at) by Pauline.
Because sourire is a transitive-indirect verb and Raphaël is an indirect object, this sentence cannot be converted into the passive voice.
So can you make transitive-indirect verbs passive at all? Technically no, but there are a couple of ways to achieve a similar effect:
Use a different verb with a similar meaning that is transitive-direct
Use the active voice with the anonymous pronoun on(one), keeping the focus on the action:
On (le) lui a demandé.
He was asked.
One asked him.
On se souvenait d’elle.
She was remembered.
One remembered her.
Let’s do some conjugation now!
To conjugate être(to be) in the passive voice, you’ll first need to decide which tense or moodNo definition set for moodLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. you need to conjugate être in. Well, just like in English, you’ll conjugate être in the same tense and mood as the verb in the active voice. Have a look at the table below to review your conjugations!
Let’s take a simple sentence in the active voice and change it into the passive voice in the most common tenses and moods. For even more examples of être in the passive voice in different tenses and moods check out our extra resource!
Tense | Active Voice | Passive Voice |
|---|---|---|
Le garçon mange le biscuit. The boy eats the cookie. | Le biscuit est mangé par le garçon. The cookie is eaten by the boy. | |
Le garçon mangera le biscuit. The boy eats the cookie. | Le biscuit sera mangé par le garçon. The cookie will be eaten by the boy. | |
Le garçon a mangé le biscuit. The boy ate the cookie. | Le biscuit a été mangé par le garçon. The cookie was eaten by the boy. | |
Le garçon mangerait le biscuit. The boy would eat the cookie. | Le biscuit serait mangé par le garçon. The cookie would be eaten by the boy. |
The negation in French goes around être : ne precedes être and pas follows.
Le repas ne sera pas servi avant 19h.
The meal won’t be served before 7pm.
When être(to be) is conjugated with compound tense like passé composé or futur proche, the negation will go around the first conjugated verb.
Le musée n’a pas été restauré avant 1987.
The museum was not restored before 1987.
Speaking of the past participle, I think it is time to mention its agreement with the subject!
To form agreement of the past participle in the passive voice, the past participle will need to agree with the subject of the passive voice in gender and number in French. Can you guess why?! → Because of the auxiliary être!
In a nutshell, here are the endings you need to remember, based on the number and gender in French.
Number/Gender | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
Singular | - | -e |
Plural | -s | -es |
Let’s have a look at a couple of examples:
Number/Gender | Feminine | Masculine |
|---|---|---|
Singular | La décision serait déjà prise. The decision would already be made. | Le repas a été mangé rapidement. The meal was eaten quickly. |
Plural | Les chambres seront réservées. The rooms will be booked. | Les billets ont été vendus en un après-midi. The tickets were sold within an afternoon. |
All clear?! Now let’s study specific cases.
Using the passive voice when forming questions in French may require a few extra steps. Let’s start with the types of questions that can be used in the passive voice:
In French, you have three ways of asking questions:
Very formal: the noun and verb are inverted
Standard: est-ce que followed by an affirmative or negative sentence
Informal: affirmative or negative sentence pronounced with an inflection
If you want to ask a question in the passive voice, you can use any of the three options above and add par or de to introduce the agent. Some of your questions may also require a French interrogative pronoun, such as qui, in them:
Par OR de + qui + formal question ?
Par qui a-t-elle été reconnue?
Who was she recognized by?
Par OR de + qui + standard question with est-ce que ?
Par qui est-ce qu’elle a été reconnue ?
Who was she recognized by?
Informal question + par OR de + qui ?
Elle a été reconnue par qui ?
Who was she recognized by?
When the subject of a sentence in the active voice is a French subject pronoun, this subject pronoun cannot be used as the agent of the passive voice.
Elle a tricoté ce pull.
She knitted this sweater.
❌ Ce pull a été tricoté par elle.
This sweater was knitted by her.
However, what you can do is use par + French possessive adjective + soins(by someone’s care) .
✅ Ce pull a été tricoté par ses soins.
This sweater was knitted by her.
✅ Le repas sera préparé par mes soins.
The meal will be prepared by me.
Use the passive voice in French to be neutral, to emphasize the object of the sentence, when the agent of the action is unknown, and in specific types of texts, like a scientific report. However, as you’ll see as you practice your French, the passive voice is not really very common. It is more of a written structure, and rarely will you hear or use the passive voice when speaking. Let’s see here in which contexts you can resort to the passive voice!
In some circumstances, you may want to be impartial. Instead of “accusing” people, you can use the passive voice to avoid telling on somebody!
L’e-mail a été envoyé par accident.
The email was sent by accident.
Sometimes it does not matter who’s done something, and the passive voice is used to focus on something else: the object itself or what’s happening with it.
Votre réservation est confirmée.
Your booking is confirmed.
Votre colis sera livré le 12.
Your parcel will be delivered on the 12th.
It could be that you need to use the passive voice because you actually don’t know who’s done something.
Mon vélo a été volé.
My bike has been stolen.
In some fields, it is important to be neutral and the use of the passive voice is a means to sound more professional. In these cases, the passive voice sounds more formal.
Le verdict a été annoncé.
The decision was announced.
Le bâtiment fut reconstruit deux fois.
The building was rebuilt twice.
L’expérience sera menée en laboratoire.
The experiment will be carried out in a lab.
Now that we’ve seen when you can use the passive voice, let’s take a look at what to do if we want to avoid using the passive voice.
As we’ve explained, the passive voice is not typically used in spoken French (and there are even cases in which it is not possible to use the passive voice), so sometimes you’ll need to use an alternative. Let’s take a look at the most common passive voice alternatives:
On (one), quelqu'un(someone), ils(they):
Because French people generally don’t use the passive voice when speaking, they resort to the fairly anonymous on(one) , quelqu’un( someone), or ils(they). These pronouns do not refer to a particular person, but enable the speaker to use the active voice, which is more dynamic.
On m’a dit que tu étais parti.
I was told you had left.
Quelqu’un a laissé la porte ouverte.
Someone left the door open.
Dans ce cinéma, ils passent des films en noir et blanc.
Black and white movies are shown in this movie theater.
Passive voice with the reflexive pronoun se(itself, themselves)
Using the reflexive pronoun se is another form of the passive voice in French.
noun or pronoun
se
verb
Ce livre se lit bien.
This book is an easy read.
(lit.) This book is an easy read.
Comment ça se prononce ?
How is it pronounced?
C’est … qui + verb
This French structure called la mise en relief is used to highlight the subject or the object of a sentence. In English, you’d use the passive voice or, when speaking, you’d stress what you want to emphasize. Let me give you some formulas and examples:
To emphasize a subject:
C’est (singular)/ Ce sont(plural) subject + qui verb
To emphasize on an object:
C’est (singular)/ Ce sont(plural) subject + que verb
C’est moi qui ai fait toute la décoration.
The decoration was done by me.
Ce sont les enfants que garde Damien.
These children are babysat by Damien.
There you go! Look below for a summary of what we’ve seen in this post.
When using the passive voice in French, keep the following tips in mind:
To form the passive voice, there are two formulas you’ll want to learn by ❤:
être(to be) + past participle + par(by) + agent with most verbs
être(To be) + past participle + de(by) + agent with verbs expressing states and feelings
The past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject of the passive sentence.
Unlike in English, in French a subject pronoun cannot be an agent introduced by par or de in the passive voice.
When using the passive voice, remember that it is not common in French.
The passive voice can be used when you don’t know who's done something or if you’d prefer keeping their identity a secret. Or, maybe, who has done something is not important and you want to emphasize the object instead!
Specific fields, such as science, journalism, law, politics, and history require the passive voice in order to sound neutral and formal.
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