Breakdown of Quelle pyramide a été construite par le roi ?
être
to be
avoir
to have
le roi
the king
quel
which / what (adjective)
par
by, through / out of (motive)
construire
to build
la pyramide
the pyramid
Questions & Answers about Quelle pyramide a été construite par le roi ?
How exactly is the passive voice formed in this sentence?
We use the passé composé of the verb être—which is a été (has been)—and add the past participle of our main verb, construire (to build). Together, a été construite translates to "was built" or "has been built."
Why does construite end with an -e? Isn't the auxiliary verb avoir (a)?
The true auxiliary verb for the passive voice is always être. Here, a été is simply the passé composé form of être. Because we are using être, the past participle construite must agree with the subject of the sentence. Since pyramide is feminine singular, we add an -e.
Why do we use par to say "by the king"?
In the passive voice, the person or thing doing the action is usually introduced by par. You might occasionally see de used to mean "by," but that is mostly reserved for verbs describing states of being or emotions (like being loved or known). For a physical action like building, we use par.
Could I ask this using est-ce que, like Quelle pyramide est-ce qu'a été construite...?
No, you can't use est-ce que here. When your question phrase (Quelle pyramide) is the subject of the sentence, you do not add est-ce que or flip the word order. You just follow it directly with the verb.
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