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L'Asie a été explorée par le voyageur.

L'Asie a été explorée par le voyageur.
Asia was explored by the traveler.
From Lesson 337:The continents·French

Questions & Answers about L'Asie a été explorée par le voyageur.

Why does explorée have an extra -e at the end?
Because this sentence is in the passive voice, the past participle explorée acts like an adjective describing the subject. Since L'Asie is feminine singular, the participle must agree by adding an -e.
How do we know this is the passé composé and not the imparfait?
The passive voice is formed using the verb être plus a past participle. Here, être is conjugated in the passé composé as a été. If it were the imparfait (meaning Asia was being explored), it would be L'Asie était explorée.
Why do we use par for 'by' here, when sometimes French uses de in passive sentences?
You use par to introduce the agent (the person doing the action) for specific, physical actions like explorer. You only use de for states of being, emotions, or figurative actions, such as in Il est respecté de tous (He is respected by everyone).
Why does Asia have an article (L'Asie) when we just say 'Asia' in English?
In French, continents, countries, and regions generally require a definite article (le, la, l', or les) when used as the subject of a sentence. Because Asie starts with a vowel, we use l'.

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