How French works
The various tenses that have been mentioned above have all been shown in their active form, that is, where the subject of the verb is carrying out the action of the verb .
Le chien a poursuivi le chat
The dog chased the cat
There is a form, however, where the subject is not carrying out the action of the verb, but is on the receiving end. This form is called the passive:
Le chat a été poursuivi par le chien
The cat was chased by the dog
The French passive is formed in a similar way to the English passive. Take, for example, the following active sentence:
Le chien mange l'os
The dog eats the bone
Step 1
The passive verb is formed by replacing the active verb with être
plus the
past participle
of the active verb:
mange → est mangé
Step 2
The
object
of the sentence becomes the
subject
:
... mange l'os → L'os est mangé...
Step 3
The subject of the sentence is placed after the verb and is used
with par:
Le chien mange ... → ... est mangé par le chien
It is important to note that in French an indirect object can never be made the subject of a passive sentence.
For example the sentence Paul was given a book cannot be translated by *Paul a été donné un livre because it is the book and not Paul that is being given. Generally an on construction is used instead (On a donné un livre à Paul ).
In a passive construction, the past participle must always agree with its subject :
Elle n'a pas été informée du crime
She wasn't informed of the crime
Sa lettre a été publiée dans le journal
Her letter has been published in the newspaper
The passive is much rarer in French than in English. Instead French often uses other constructions:
Lorsqu'on a annoncé la nouvelle, il y a eu de vives acclamations
When the news was announced, there were great cheers
On ne sait pas quand le temps s'améliorera
It isn't known when the weather will get better
As mentioned in section 2 above, this is especially the case with constructions such as donner qch à qn, demander qch à qn and conseiller qch à qn which are rarely used in the passive because the quelqu'un is an indirect object . This is unlike English:
I was advised to take a few days rest
On m'a conseillé de prendre quelques jours de repos
[and not *J'étais conseillé de prendre ...]
A pronominal or reflexive verb is often used in French where English would use a passive.
Leurs produits se vendent partout dans le monde
Their products are sold throughout the world
Ce médicament ne s'achète pas sans ordonnance
This medicine cannot be bought without a prescription
Ce vin se boit frais
This wine is drunk chilled
Le français se parle dans plusieurs pays du monde
French is spoken in several countries in the world
Faire or se faire + infinitive can also be used to express the passive:
Nous avons fait nettoyer la moquette
We had the carpet cleaned