Breakdown of Ces griffes ont été trouvées par un chasseur.
être
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
avoir
to have
ce
this (before a noun)
trouver
to find
par
by, through / out of (motive)
le chasseur
the hunter
la griffe
the claw
Questions & Answers about Ces griffes ont été trouvées par un chasseur.
Why does trouvées have an -es at the end?
In the passive voice, the past participle always agrees in gender and number with the subject of the sentence. Since Ces griffes (These claws) is feminine plural, you must add -es to the past participle trouvé.
Why use ont été instead of just sont here?
This sentence is in the passé composé of the passive voice, meaning 'were found' or 'have been found'. To form this, you put the auxiliary verb être into the passé composé (ont été) and add the past participle. If you used the present tense sont trouvées, it would mean 'are found'.
When do I use par versus de to say 'by' in a passive sentence?
Can I use griffe for any kind of claw?
Une griffe is used for the claws or talons of mammals, reptiles, and birds, like cats, bears, or eagles. However, if you are talking about the claw of a crustacean like a crab or a lobster, you would use une pince (a pincer).
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