The Passive Voice
When you want to focus on the receiver of an action rather than the person doing it, you use the passive voice. For example, instead of saying "The reader reads the book" (active), you can say "The book is read by the reader" (passive).
To form the passive voice in the present tense, use the present tense of être (to be) followed by the past participle of your main verb.
If you want to state who is performing the action, introduce them with the preposition par (by).
Subject + être + past participle + par + actor
| This book is read by many readers. | Ce livre est lu par beaucoup de lecteurs. |
| This work is exhibited by the museum. | Cette œuvre est exposée par le musée. |
Past Participle Agreement
Because the passive voice is built with the helping verb être, the past participle acts a lot like an adjective. This means it must agree in gender and number with the subject of the sentence.
- Add an -e if the subject is feminine.
- Add an -s if the subject is plural.
- Add -es if the subject is feminine plural.
Notice how the past participles in the following examples change their endings to match their plural subjects (œuvres and peintres):
| These works are exhibited by the gallery. | Ces œuvres sont exposées par la galerie. |
| Certain painters are admired by tourists. | Certains peintres sont admirés par les touristes. |
Discussing Creative Works
The passive voice is especially common in the worlds of art and publishing. It is a natural way to describe how books are published or translated, and how artworks are received by critics and the public.
| This novel is published by a Canadian publisher. | Ce roman est publié par un éditeur canadien. |
| The text is translated by a professional translator. | Le texte est traduit par un traducteur professionnel. |
| These magazines are often illustrated by an artist. | Ces magazines sont souvent illustrés par un artiste. |
You can also string multiple passive actions together to describe a single subject:
| The painting is exhibited in the gallery and appreciated by the critic. | Le tableau est exposé dans la galerie et apprécié par le critique. |