The Passive Voice

(Higher tier) The passive voice is a Higher-tier structure in AQA GCSE French (8652), and this spec assesses the present passive only. Foundation students do not need it and can skip this lesson.

In an active sentence, the subject does the action. In a passive sentence, the subject receives the action — the focus shifts to the thing having something done to it.

Voice	French	English
Active	Marie écrit la lettre.	Marie writes the letter.
Passive	La lettre est écrite par Marie.	The letter is written by Marie.

In the passive, la lettre becomes the subject, the verb becomes être + past participle, and the original doer (Marie) moves to the end after par (by).

Build the present passive with the present tense of être plus a past participle. The doer, if named, follows par.

Passive = être (present) + past participle (+ par + agent)

Element	Example
subject	Le repas
être (present)	est
past participle	préparé
par + agent	par le chef
full sentence	Le repas est préparé par le chef.

Worked examples:

• La maison est vendue par une agence. — The house is sold by an agency.
• Les fenêtres sont fermées à clé. — The windows are locked. (no agent named)
• Ce livre est lu par des millions de gens. — This book is read by millions of people.

The agent is optional. If you don't need to say who does it, just leave out par…: La porte est fermée (The door is closed).

Because the passive uses être, the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number — exactly like the perfect tense with être. Add -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for feminine plural.

Subject	Passive form	English
Le gâteau (m sg)	est mangé	is eaten
La pomme (f sg)	est mangée	is eaten
Les gâteaux (m pl)	sont mangés	are eaten
Les pommes (f pl)	sont mangées	are eaten

Worked examples:

• La voiture est réparée par le mécanicien. — The car is repaired by the mechanic. (voiture f sg → réparée)
• Les élèves sont respectés par les profs. — The pupils are respected by the teachers. (élèves m pl → respectés)

Match the participle to the subject, not the agent: Les lettres sont écrites par Paul — écrites agrees with les lettres (f pl), never with Paul.

French uses the passive far less than English. The most natural way to avoid it is the pronoun on (one / they / people), with an ordinary active verb. English often translates this straight back into a passive.

French (active with on)	English (passive)
On parle français ici.	French is spoken here.
On vend des billets à l'entrée.	Tickets are sold at the entrance.
On m'a volé mon portable.	My phone was stolen.

On takes the same verb form as il/elle (third person singular). It is the everyday French solution when the doer is unknown or unimportant.

Examiners like on. On parle français au Canada sounds far more French than a translated passive, and it is easier to get right.

The second idiomatic alternative is a reflexive verb. Many things that English expresses passively, French expresses with se + verb — literally "does itself".

French (reflexive)	English (passive)
Le vin rouge se boit frais.	Red wine is drunk cold.
Ça ne se fait pas.	That is not done.
Comment ça s'écrit ?	How is that spelled / written?
Les légumes se vendent au marché.	Vegetables are sold at the market.

The verb agrees with its subject in the normal way (se boit singular, se vendent plural).

Both dodges beat a clumsy passive. For "Spanish is spoken here," write On parle espagnol ici or L'espagnol se parle ici — not a word-for-word est parlé.

To build a passive from an active sentence, make three moves. Work through them in order and the agreement falls into place.

Start with the active sentence: Le professeur corrige les copies. (The teacher corrects the papers.)

Step	Move	Result
1	The object becomes the subject	Les copies…
2	The verb becomes être (present) + past participle, agreeing with the new subject	Les copies sont corrigées
3	The old subject moves after par (the agent)	…par le professeur

Final passive: Les copies sont corrigées par le professeur. — The papers are corrected by the teacher.

A second worked example — active Un chef prépare le dîner →

• Step 1: Le dîner…
• Step 2: Le dîner est préparé (m sg, no extra ending)
• Step 3: …par un chef → Le dîner est préparé par un chef. (The dinner is prepared by a chef.)

The participle agreement always follows the new subject from step 1: les copies (f pl) → corrigées, le dîner (m sg) → préparé.

1. Using avoir instead of être

The passive is built with être, never avoir: La lettre est écrite, not La lettre a écrite. If you see a + participle, that is the perfect tense, a different structure.

2. Forgetting the agreement

The participle agrees with the subject: La maison est vendue, Les portes sont fermées. A missing -e or -s on a feminine or plural subject is a common accuracy slip.

3. Agreeing with the agent instead of the subject

Les tartes sont faites par le chef — faites agrees with les tartes (f pl), not with le chef. Always look back to the subject.

4. Translating every English passive word-for-word

English uses the passive constantly; French prefers on or a reflexive. "French is spoken here" is best as On parle français ici, not a heavy est parlé.

5. Trying to use a past or future passive

This spec covers the present passive only. To say "the letter was written," GCSE French normally uses the perfect active (Marie a écrit la lettre) or on, rather than a past passive.