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Le territoire a été attaqué par l'armée avant la bataille.

Le territoire a été attaqué par l'armée avant la bataille.
The territory was attacked by the army before the battle.
From Lesson 162:The passive voice in the past (a été + par)·French

Questions & Answers about Le territoire a été attaqué par l'armée avant la bataille.

Why is it a été attaqué instead of just a attaqué?
a attaqué is the active voice, which would mean the territory did the attacking. To make it passive ('was attacked'), you put the verb être into the passé composé, giving us a été. Then you add the past participle of the main verb, attaqué.
Would the spelling of attaqué change if the subject was feminine?
Yes! In the passive voice, the past participle always agrees with the subject. Since le territoire is masculine singular, attaqué takes no extra letters. If the subject were feminine, like la ville (the city), it would be la ville a été attaquée. Notice that it agrees with the subject receiving the action, not with the army doing the attacking.
Why do we use par for 'by' here instead of de?
We use par because attacking is a specific, deliberate action carried out by an active agent (l'armée). In the passive voice, you generally only use de for verbs of emotion (like being respected or loved by someone) or descriptions of states (like a table being covered by a cloth).
Why is 'before' translated as avant here instead of devant?
Both words can translate to 'before' in English, but avant is strictly used for time (before the battle happened). The word devant is used for physical space, meaning 'in front of' (like standing before a building).

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