Learn Hardcore French: Ce roman est souvent lu par Marie le soir. - This novel is often read by Marie in the evening.

In the given sentence, the novel is the grammatical subject, not Marie, so French uses the passive:
Ce roman est souvent lu par Marie le soir. – “This novel is often read by Marie in the evening.”

How would I say the same idea in the active voice?

An active version would be:

Marie lit souvent ce roman le soir.

This keeps the same elements:

Marie = subject (the one doing the reading)
lit = active present tense of lire
souvent = often
ce roman = this novel
le soir = in the evening

Meaning-wise, it’s almost the same; stylistically, French generally prefers the active voice unless there’s a reason to emphasize the object (here, the novel) or you don’t care who the subject is. The passive version puts more emphasis on the novel.

Why is it ce roman and not cet roman or cette roman?

Because roman is:

masculine
singular
starting with a consonant sound (the r in roman)

The rules for “this/that” in French in the singular:

ce
- masculine noun starting with a consonant: ce roman
cet
- masculine noun starting with a vowel or mute h: cet homme, cet arbre
cette
- feminine noun: cette maison, cette histoire

So only ce roman is correct here.

Why is roman masculine? Is there any rule?

Roman (novel) is grammatically masculine: un roman, le roman, ce roman.

Unfortunately, French noun gender is largely arbitrary and must be memorized. There are some patterns (e.g. many nouns ending in -age, -ment, -isme are masculine), but -an doesn’t guarantee a specific gender.

You simply need to learn roman = masculine and always use masculine determiners and adjectives with it:

un roman intéressant
un vieux roman
ce roman français

Why is the adverb souvent placed between est and lu?

In compound verb forms (like être + past participle), many adverbs, especially common ones such as souvent, usually go between the auxiliary and the past participle:

est souvent lu
a souvent lu
sont toujours arrivés
a déjà fini

So:

Ce roman est souvent lu… is the standard, natural order.

Putting souvent in other positions is possible but tends to sound marked, less neutral, or sometimes just odd. For example:

Ce roman est lu souvent par Marie le soir. – possible, but less natural in everyday speech; sounds slightly heavier or more emphatic on souvent.

What exactly is lu? Why not lire or lit?

Lu is the past participle of the verb lire (to read).

Forms of lire (present tense, 3 most common persons):

je lis
tu lis
il/elle lit

Past participle:

lu – used with avoir (j’ai lu) or être in the passive (est lu).

You cannot say:

✗ Ce roman est lire – wrong (you can’t use the infinitive after est this way)
✗ Ce roman est lit – wrong (this would be mixing a present form with être)

In the passive, French uses être + past participle, so est lu is the correct form.

Does lu change for gender or number in this sentence?

Yes, in the passive voice, the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number.

Here, the subject is ce roman:

roman = masculine, singular
→ lu stays in its masculine singular form.

If the subject changed, lu would change too:

Ce livre est lu. – masculine singular
Ces livres sont lus. – masculine plural
Cette histoire est lue. – feminine singular
Ces histoires sont lues. – feminine plural

So if the subject here were cette histoire, the sentence would be:

Cette histoire est souvent lue par Marie le soir.

Why is it par Marie and not de Marie?

In the passive voice, the person or thing performing the action (the “agent”) is normally introduced by par:

Ce roman est souvent lu par Marie.
Ce tableau a été peint par Monet.

De in a passive structure tends to express something closer to origin, content, or characteristic, and is rarer with action verbs. You might find it with certain verbs or in more literary style, but with lire, par is the natural choice to mark who is doing the reading:

✗ Ce roman est souvent lu de Marie. – not idiomatic in modern French.

So to say “(by) Marie” as the agent of a passive, use par Marie.

What exactly does le soir mean here? Is it “this evening” or “in the evenings”?

Le soir here means something like “in the evening / in the evenings”, referring to a habitual time of day, not a specific single evening.

Compare:

le soir – in the (general) evening / evenings (habit or regular timing)
ce soir – this evening (specific)
tous les soirs – every evening
le soir, je lis. – In the evenings, I read.

So in the sentence, le soir indicates when the action usually happens: “Marie often reads this novel in the evening.”

Can I move le soir somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes, French word order is somewhat flexible for time expressions. Some common possibilities:

Ce roman est souvent lu par Marie le soir. (original; very natural)
Ce roman est souvent lu le soir par Marie. (also fine)
Le soir, ce roman est souvent lu par Marie. (more emphasis on “in the evening”)

All these are grammatically correct. The original order (…par Marie le soir) is probably the most neutral and natural in everyday use.

Could I say Ce roman est lu souvent par Marie le soir instead?

You can, but it is less natural than Ce roman est souvent lu….

In compound tenses and passives, French tends to place short, common adverbs (souvent, toujours, déjà, encore, bien, mal) between the auxiliary and the past participle:

est souvent lu (preferred)
est lu souvent (possible, but marked or stylistically heavier)

So Ce roman est lu souvent par Marie le soir is understandable and not “wrong,” but Ce roman est souvent lu par Marie le soir is the more idiomatic choice.

How would I say “Marie herself often reads this novel in the evening” with emphasis on Marie?

To put emphasis on Marie (and suggest “Marie herself” or contrast with someone else), you can use a stressed pronoun elle:

Ce roman est souvent lu par elle le soir.

In context, this can highlight that she, as opposed to other people, is the one who often reads it.
However, if her name is already known, French normally prefers simply:

Ce roman est souvent lu par Marie le soir.

In the active voice, you can also add même for emphasis:

Marie lit souvent ce roman elle-même le soir. – “Marie often reads this novel herself in the evening.”

How is this sentence pronounced, especially the linking between words?

Approximate pronunciation (in IPA):

Ce roman est souvent lu par Marie le soir.
/sə ʁɔ.mɑ̃ ɛ su.vɑ̃ ly paʁ ma.ʁi lə swaʁ/

Key points:

Ce = /sə/
roman = /ʁɔ.mɑ̃/ (final n is nasal, not pronounced as a full consonant)
est = /ɛ/
souvent = /su.vɑ̃/ (final t is silent)
lu = /ly/ (single u sound, rounded)
par = /paʁ/ (final r is pronounced in standard French)
Marie = /ma.ʁi/
le = /lə/
soir = /swaʁ/

There is no compulsory liaison between est and souvent here; they’re usually pronounced separately: /ɛ su.vɑ̃/.