Breakdown of Ce peintre n'est jamais apprécié par le public.
être
to be
ne
not (used before the verb)
ce
this (before a noun)
jamais
never / ever
par
by, through / out of (motive)
le public
the audience, public
le peintre
the painter
apprécier
to appreciate
Questions & Answers about Ce peintre n'est jamais apprécié par le public.
How is the passive voice formed in this sentence?
It uses the present tense of the verb être (est) followed by a past participle (apprécié). The word par (by) is then used to introduce the agent—the person or group actually doing the appreciating, which is le public here.
Where do the negative words ne and jamais go in a passive sentence?
Just like in compound tenses such as the passé composé, the two parts of the negation (n' and jamais) wrap around the conjugated auxiliary verb. Here, they surround est, leaving the past participle (apprécié) entirely outside the negation.
Would apprécié change if the subject were feminine or plural?
Yes! In the passive voice, the past participle always acts like an adjective and agrees in gender and number with the subject of the sentence. If the subject were plural, like Ces peintres, it would become appréciés.
I learned that verbs expressing feelings use de instead of par in the passive voice. Why is par used here?
You have a great memory! It's true that verbs describing states of mind or feelings (like aimé or respecté) often use de for the passive voice. However, apprécié is flexible and can take either de or par. Using par le public perfectly follows the standard passive rule you are learning now and is very common in everyday French.
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