Exercises

Passive

Introduction

The Passive is one of two Voices in both English and French.  The other voice, more common, is the Active.  English and French use almost identical constructions for the passive. 

The opposition between Active and Passive has to do with the assignment of roles to elements within a sentence.

Sentences in the Active Voice have as their subject a word representing the person or thing who is doing whatever the verb says (called the agent).   

Les bûcherons ont coupé les arbres.

The loggers cut down the trees. 

Sentences in the Passive Voice have as their subject the person or thing that is being affected by the action referred to by the verb (called the patient). 

Les arbres ont été coupés par les bûcherons. 

The trees were cut down by the loggers

When the verb is in the passive, the agent can be indicated in a phrase beginning with par in French, by in English, but this is not necessary. 

Note that the passive exists in various tenses:

Son compte a été fermé. His account has been closed

L'école sera fermée. The school will be closed

Ils sont attirés par les villes. They are attracted

 

Exercises