Learn Hardcore French: Ce livre est déjà lu.

Active: Quelqu’un lit ce livre. – “Someone reads / is reading this book.”
Passive: Ce livre est lu (par quelqu’un). – “This book is read (by someone).”

In Ce livre est déjà lu, the passive describes the current state resulting from a past action: the book is in the state “already read”. In English, we’d usually say:

“This book has already been read.”
or informally
“I’ve already read this book.” (if context makes I the implied subject)

So grammatically it’s present passive, but in meaning it’s close to an English present perfect passive (“has been read”).

Why does French use être here (est lu) and not avoir like in J’ai lu?

French distinguishes:

Active voice (with avoir):
- J’ai lu ce livre. – “I have read this book.”
  Structure: subject (doer) + avoir + past participle + object
Passive voice (with être):
- Ce livre est lu (par moi / par quelqu’un). – “This book is read (by me / by someone).”
  Structure: subject (receiver) + être + past participle (+ agent introduced by par)

So:

J’ai lu ce livre. – Focus on who did the action (I).
Ce livre est lu. – Focus on the book, the thing that receives the action.

In Ce livre est déjà lu, French uses être because it’s the passive form. The subject (ce livre) is not doing the reading; it is the thing that has been read.

Is lu here a verb or an adjective? Does it change form?

In this structure, lu is a past participle used in the passive, and it behaves like an adjective for agreement.

It agrees in gender and number with the subject of être.

With livre (masculine singular), it stays lu:

Ce livre est déjà lu. – “This book is already read.”

But look at these:

Cette *lettre est déjà lue*. (feminine singular)
Ces *livres sont déjà lus*. (masculine plural)
Ces *lettres sont déjà lues*. (feminine plural)

So:

masc. sg.: lu
fem. sg.: lue
masc. pl.: lus
fem. pl.: lues

Because it’s used with être in a passive/stative construction, you must think of lu as a past participle that agrees like an adjective.

Why is it ce livre and not cet livre?

In French, for “this / that” in front of a masculine singular noun, you choose ce or cet depending on the sound that follows:

ce
- masculine noun starting with a consonant sound
- ce livre (book)
- ce garçon (boy)
cet
- masculine noun starting with a vowel sound or mute h
- cet arbre (tree)
- cet homme (man)
- cet hôtel (hotel – mute h)

Since livre starts with /l/ (a consonant sound), you must say:

Ce livre – not cet livre.

Why is déjà placed between est and lu? Can it go somewhere else?

Déjà is an adverb meaning “already”. In compound or passive structures, French adverbs like déjà, souvent, toujours usually go:

between the auxiliary verb and the past participle

So:

Ce livre est déjà lu. ✔️
Ce livre est lu déjà. ❌ (sounds wrong / very odd)
Ce livre déjà est lu. ❌ (wrong)

Compare with other examples:

Il est déjà parti. – “He has already left.”
Le travail est déjà fait. – “The work is already done.”

So the natural place for déjà here is between est and lu.

What’s the difference between Ce livre est déjà lu, Ce livre a déjà été lu, and J’ai déjà lu ce livre?

They’re all related, but not interchangeable in nuance.

Ce livre est déjà lu.
- Literally: “This book is already read.”
- Present passive, stressing the current state of the book: it is now in the category “already read.”
- Often used when talking about the status of the book (e.g. in a pile of books, homework list, library process).
Ce livre a déjà été lu.
- Literally: “This book has already been read.”
- Passé composé passive (avoir + été + past participle).
- Focus on the completed action in the past. Slightly more formal or heavier.
- Typical if you want to underline that the reading happened at some point before now.
J’ai déjà lu ce livre.
- “I’ve already read this book.”
- Active voice, passé composé.
- This is what you most naturally say in everyday conversation when you are saying you’ve already read it (for example, when someone offers to lend you a book).

In many situations where English would naturally say “I’ve already read this book,” a French speaker will prefer:

J’ai déjà lu ce livre.

over the passive Ce livre est déjà lu, unless the focus is specifically on the book’s status rather than on who read it.

Is Ce livre est déjà lu something people actually say in everyday French? When would you use it?

Yes, it’s correct and possible, but it’s less common than the active form when talking about your own reading.

You would use Ce livre est déjà lu when you care mainly about the status of the book, not about who read it. For example:

You have two piles of books: “to read” and “already read.”
- Ce livre est déjà lu, mais celui-là ne l’est pas encore.
  “This book is already read, but that one isn’t yet.”
A teacher talking about classwork:
- Ce chapitre est déjà lu, on peut passer au suivant.
  “This chapter is already read; we can move on to the next.”
In a library / administrative setting:
- Ce manuscrit est déjà lu par le comité.
  “This manuscript has already been read by the committee.”

If you personally want to say you’ve read it, in most everyday situations you’d say:

Je l’ai déjà lu. / J’ai déjà lu ce livre.

How would you say “This book is not yet read” / “This book hasn’t been read yet”?

You can negate déjà with pas encore (“not yet”).

Two natural options:

Present passive, focusing on state:

Ce livre n’est pas encore lu.
→ “This book is not yet read.” / “This book hasn’t been read yet.”
(emphasis: its current state is “not yet read”)

Passé composé passive, focusing on action:

Ce livre n’a pas encore été lu.
→ “This book hasn’t been read yet.”
(emphasis: the action of reading hasn’t happened yet)

Both are correct; the first is lighter and common when just talking about status.

How would the sentence change with feminine or plural nouns?

You keep the same structure être + déjà + past participle, but the past participle agrees with the subject.

Examples:

Feminine singular:
- Cette lettre est déjà lue. – “This letter is already read.”
Masculine plural:
- Ces livres sont déjà lus. – “These books are already read.”
Feminine plural:
- Ces lettres sont déjà lues. – “These letters are already read.”

Pattern:

[Demonstrative] + [noun] + être (conjugated) + déjà + past participle (agreed)

So for Ce livre est déjà lu, it stays lu because livre is masculine singular.

Can Ce livre est lu without déjà mean “This book is being read” or “This book is (regularly) read”?

Yes, context decides the meaning.

Ongoing action (like English “is being read”):

Le livre est lu par l’enseignant en ce moment.
“The book is being read by the teacher right now.”

French doesn’t have a special continuous form (“is being read”), so the simple present passive est lu can cover that meaning if the context is clear.

Habitual action (like English “is (often) read”):

Ce livre est beaucoup lu en France.
“This book is widely read in France.”

State (with or without déjà):

Ce livre est déjà lu. – State: it belongs to the “already read” group.

So:

Ce livre est lu by itself is neutral and needs context: it can mean “is read (generally)” or “is being read (now)”.
Adding déjà pushes it toward the resulting state: “has already been read / is already read.”