Breakdown of La galaxie n'est pas encore colonisée par l'homme.
être
to be
l'homme
the man (m)
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
par
by, through / out of (motive)
encore
still, again
la galaxie
the galaxy
coloniser
to colonize
Questions & Answers about La galaxie n'est pas encore colonisée par l'homme.
Why is there an extra e at the end of colonisée?
Because this sentence is in the passive voice. In French passive constructions, you use the verb être plus the past participle, and the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Since La galaxie is feminine singular, colonisé takes an extra e to become colonisée.
Why does pas encore go between est and colonisée rather than after the whole verb?
In compound verb forms—which includes the passive voice and tenses like the passé composé—the negation surrounds the conjugated auxiliary verb (est). Adverbs like encore, jamais, or plus stick closely to that auxiliary, so the full chunk pas encore is placed right before the past participle.
Why do we use the article in par l'homme when the English translation is just "by man"?
In French, when referring to a general concept or an entire category, the definite article is required. Here, l'homme refers to "mankind" or "humanity" as a whole. While English drops the article for "man" in this broad context, French strictly requires it.
Could we use de instead of par to say "by man" here?
No. In the passive voice, par is used to introduce the agent of a specific, physical, or concrete action (like colonizing). You generally only use de when the passive verb describes a state of being, a condition, or an emotion (such as être respecté de or être entouré de).
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