Active and passive voice in French : complete course

This course explains active and passive voice in French: in an active sentence the subject performs the action, while in a passive one it receives it. Starting from simple examples such as Le chat mange la souris, it shows how each structure is built, including how the passive uses être with a past participle that agrees with the subject. It also compares French with other languages and ends with a full example and key points.

What Are Active and Passive Voice in French?

In French grammar, la voix active et passive refers to two different ways of constructing a sentence. In the active voice, the subject performs the action. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action instead. Understanding both structures will help you read, write, and speak French more naturally.

Simple Examples to Get Started

• Active: Le chat mange la souris. (The cat eats the mouse.)
• Passive: La souris est mangée par le chat. (The mouse is eaten by the cat.)

Notice how the focus shifts. In the active sentence, we focus on the cat. In the passive sentence, we focus on the mouse. Same action, different perspective.

The Key Elements of Active and Passive Voice in French

Let us break down how each voice is built in French. There are a few important components to understand.

1. The Active Voice Structure

The active voice follows a simple pattern: Subject + Verb + Object. This is the most common structure in French.

• Marie lit un livre. (Marie reads a book.)
• Les enfants jouent au foot. (The children play football.)
• Le boulanger fait le pain. (The baker makes the bread.)

2. The Passive Voice Structure

The passive voice in French is formed with the verb être (to be) + the past participle of the main verb. The past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject.

Formula: Subject + être (conjugated) + past participle + par + original subject

• Le livre est lu par Marie. (The book is read by Marie.)
• Le pain est fait par le boulanger. (The bread is made by the baker.)
• Les enfants sont félicités par le professeur. (The children are congratulated by the teacher.)

3. Agreement of the Past Participle

In the passive voice, the past participle agrees with the grammatical subject. This is a key rule that learners often forget.

Why Active and Passive Voice Matter in French

You might wonder: why bother learning the passive voice? Here are a few good reasons.

• Formal writing: The passive voice is very common in newspapers, reports, and official documents in French.
• Changing focus: It lets you highlight what happened rather than who did it.
• Unknown or unimportant agent: Sometimes we do not know who did the action, or it does not matter. Example: La maison a été construite en 1900. (The house was built in 1900.)

Using both voices makes your French sound more natural and flexible.

Comparison with Other Languages

If you already know English or Spanish, you will find some similarities with French. Let us compare.

As you can see, the structure is very similar across these three languages. The main difference is that in French, the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number. English does not do this. Spanish does it similarly to French.

A Full Example in Context

Let us look at a short paragraph using both voices so you can see how they work together naturally.

Active voice version:

‘Un célèbre architecte a construit ce pont en 1950. Les ingénieurs ont utilisé des matériaux solides. Les habitants admirent ce pont chaque jour.’

Passive voice version:

‘Ce pont a été construit par un célèbre architecte en 1950. Des matériaux solides ont été utilisés par les ingénieurs. Ce pont est admiré par les habitants chaque jour.’

Both versions are correct. The passive version puts the focus on the bridge and the actions, not on the people who performed them.

Key Points to Remember

• The active voice follows the pattern: Subject + Verb + Object.
• The passive voice uses: Subject + être + past participle (+ par + agent).
• The past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number in the passive voice.
• The passive voice is common in formal and written French.
• The word par (by) introduces the agent who performs the action.
• Sometimes the agent is not mentioned at all: La fenêtre a été cassée. (The window was broken.)

Sources

• Bescherelle, L. (2012) : La Grammaire pour tous. Hatier.
• Grevisse, M., and Goosse, A. (2011) : Le Bon Usage. De Boeck Supérieur.
• Council of Europe. (2020) : Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Council of Europe Publishing.