Breakdown of L'histoire se transmet oralement.
l'histoire
the story (f)
se
himself, herself, themselves (reflexive)
transmettre
to pass on
oralement
orally
Questions & Answers about L'histoire se transmet oralement.
Why do we use se transmet (transmits itself) instead of the standard passive voice est transmise?
In French, when an inanimate object like L'histoire has an action done to it, it is very common to use a reflexive verb (the pronominal passive) rather than the standard passive voice. While L'histoire est transmise is grammatically correct, French speakers naturally say L'histoire se transmet for general facts, habitual actions, or how things are normally done.
Does L'histoire mean story or history in this sentence?
It can actually mean both! The word histoire is used for a fictional tale (a story) as well as the sequence of past events (history). Because both history and stories can be passed down orally, you would need more context from the surrounding conversation to know exactly which one the speaker meant here.
What is the infinitive of transmet and how is it conjugated?
The infinitive is transmettre (to transmit or to pass down). It belongs to the same family as mettre (to put) and follows the exact same irregular conjugation pattern. For the third-person singular to match L'histoire, you drop the -tre ending from the infinitive, which leaves us with transmet.
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