FlexiLingoIn one line
Conjugate
êtrein the tense of the main verb and put the participle after it — and the participle always agrees with the subject.
The forms on this page
| Form | Means | Sound |
|---|---|---|
être | to be — here it is not the main verb, it builds the passive | /ɛtʁ/ |
The table
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| present | Marie écrit la lettre. /ma.ʁi e.kʁi la lɛtʁ/ | La lettre est écrite par Marie. /la lɛtʁ ɛ.t‿e.kʁit paʁ ma.ʁi/ |
| passé composé | Marie a écrit la lettre. /ma.ʁi a e.kʁi la lɛtʁ/ | La lettre a été écrite. /la lɛ.tʁ‿a e.te e.kʁit/ |
| imperfect | Marie écrivait la lettre. /ma.ʁi e.kʁi.vɛ la lɛtʁ/ | La lettre était écrite. /la lɛtʁ e.tɛ.t‿e.kʁit/ — ambiguous: "was being written" or "was written" |
| future | Marie écrira la lettre. /ma.ʁi e.kʁi.ʁa la lɛtʁ/ | La lettre sera écrite. /la lɛtʁ sə.ʁa e.kʁit/ |
| conditional | Marie écrirait la lettre. /ma.ʁi e.kʁi.ʁɛ la lɛtʁ/ | La lettre serait écrite. /la lɛtʁ sə.ʁɛ.t‿e.kʁit/ |
| subjunctive | — | … que la lettre soit écrite. /kə la lɛtʁ swa e.kʁit/ |
êtrecarries the tense; the participle stays put. Only its gender and number change with the subject.The structure is the same as English — "be" plus a past participle — so the shape needs no explaining. The two differences are the agreement, and how much less French uses it.
Agreement — always, no exceptions
| Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
Le livre est écrit. | masculine singular | /lə livʁ ɛ.t‿e.kʁi/ |
La lettre est écrite. | feminine singular | /la lɛtʁ ɛ.t‿e.kʁit/ |
Les livres sont écrits. | masculine plural | /le livʁ sɔ̃.t‿e.kʁi/ |
Les lettres sont écrites. | feminine plural | /le lɛtʁ sɔ̃.t‿e.kʁit/ |
This is simpler than the avoir agreement rule — there it is conditional, here it is automatic.
The agent — par or de
| Preposition | When | Example |
|---|---|---|
par /paʁ/ | a specific action | écrit par Hugo /e.kʁi paʁ y.ɡo/ |
de /də/ | a state or a feeling | aimé de tous /ɛ.me də tus/ couvert de neige /ku.vɛʁ də nɛʒ/ |
The verbs that take de:
aimer · détester · respecter · connaître · accompagner · suivre · entourer · couvrir · remplir · précéder
In most cases the agent is not mentioned at all:
La porte a été fermée.— who closed it? It does not matter.English uses "by" for both — "loved by all", "covered by snow" — so the
degroup has to be learnt. A rough guide: if the English could take "with" instead of "by" — "covered with snow", "filled with water" — French usesde.
Three French ways of avoiding the passive
French uses the passive far less than English. Three alternatives that sound more natural:
1. on — the commonest
| Passive | With on |
|---|---|
Le français est parlé ici. /lə fʁɑ̃.sɛ ɛ paʁ.le i.si/ | On parle français ici. /ɔ̃ paʁl fʁɑ̃.sɛ i.si/ |
La porte a été fermée. /la pɔʁt a e.te fɛʁ.me/ | On a fermé la porte. /ɔ̃.n‿a fɛʁ.me la pɔʁt/ |
Il a été décidé que… /il a e.te de.si.de kə/ | On a décidé que… /ɔ̃.n‿a de.si.de kə/ |
This is the most natural French. If the agent is unknown, use
on, not the passive.
2. A reflexive verb with a passive meaning
| Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
Ça se vend bien. | it sells well | /sa sə vɑ̃ bjɛ̃/ |
Ça se dit. | people say that | /sa sə di/ |
Ça ne se fait pas. | that isn't done | /sa nə sə fɛ pa/ |
Le vin blanc se boit frais. | white wine is drunk chilled | /lə vɛ̃ blɑ̃ sə bwa fʁɛ/ |
This structure is used for general rules rather than single events.
English has a small version of the same thing — "it sells well", "this book reads easily" — an active verb with a passive sense. French uses it far more widely.
3. se faire + infinitive — when something bad happened to somebody
| Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
Il s'est fait voler son sac. | he had his bag stolen | /il sɛ fɛ vɔ.le sɔ̃ sak/ |
Elle s'est fait renvoyer. | she got fired | /ɛl sɛ fɛ ʁɑ̃.vwa.je/ |
Je me suis fait avoir. | I got taken in | /ʒə mə sɥi fɛ.t‿a.vwaʁ/ |
In this structure
faitnever agrees:Elle s'est fait renvoyer, not.faiteThis is English "get" passive — "he got robbed", "she got fired" — with the same slightly informal, slightly unlucky flavour.
Which verbs cannot go passive
Only a verb with a direct object can be made passive.
| ❌ | Why |
|---|---|
Marie a téléphoné à Paul. → no passive | téléphoner à has no direct object |
Il est allé à Paris. → no passive | aller is intransitive |
Il ressemble à son père. | ressembler à is indirect |
English allows "Paul was telephoned", "he was given a book", "she was told the news" — French allows none of them. English can promote an indirect object to subject; French cannot. Say
On a téléphoné à Paul,On lui a donné un livre,On lui a dit la nouvelle.This is one of the sharpest structural differences between the two languages, and translating an English passive word for word will produce an impossible French sentence rather than a clumsy one.
Examples
| English | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| The letter was written. | La lettre a été écrite. | /la lɛ.tʁ‿a e.te e.kʁit/ |
| This book was written by Victor Hugo. | Ce livre a été écrit par Victor Hugo. | /sə li.vʁ‿a e.te e.kʁi paʁ vik.tɔʁ y.ɡo/ |
| The door is closed. | La porte est fermée. | /la pɔʁ.t‿ɛ fɛʁ.me/ |
| French is spoken here. | On parle français ici. | /ɔ̃ paʁl fʁɑ̃.sɛ i.si/ |
| It sells well. | Ça se vend bien. | /sa sə vɑ̃ bjɛ̃/ |
| He had his bag stolen. | Il s'est fait voler son sac. | /il sɛ fɛ vɔ.le sɔ̃ sak/ |
| He is loved by everyone. | Il est aimé de tous. | /i.l‿ɛ.t‿ɛ.me də tus/ |
| The houses will be built. | Les maisons seront construites. | /le mɛ.zɔ̃ sə.ʁɔ̃ kɔ̃s.tʁɥit/ |
| That isn't done. | Ça ne se fait pas. | /sa nə sə fɛ pa/ |
| It was decided to leave. | On a décidé de partir. | /ɔ̃.n‿a de.si.de də paʁ.tiʁ/ |
Common mistakes
| ❌ | ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
La lettre est écrit. | … est écrite. | The agreement is compulsory |
Paul a été téléphoné. | On a téléphoné à Paul. | An indirect object cannot be made passive |
Le livre est écrit de Hugo. | … par Hugo. | A specific action takes par |
Elle s'est faite renvoyer. | … s'est fait renvoyer. | fait is invariable here |
Il est été écrit. | Il a été écrit. | The auxiliary être takes avoir in the past |
| the passive everywhere | use on | French uses the passive sparingly |
Why French avoids the passive
because it has `on` and English does not
English has no comfortable pronoun for "somebody did this". One is formal and dated, they is vague, people is heavy. So English reaches for the passive: "It was decided that…"
French has on — a light, natural pronoun usable at every level of speech. On a décidé que…
The statistical result: the passive is several times more frequent in English text than in French. A translator who turns every English passive into a French one produces something that does not read as French.
And examiners notice. Using on and reflexive verbs correctly is a signal that you are thinking inside French rather than translating.
The practical test: every time you are about to write a passive, ask yourself:
Am I naming the agent or not?
Naming it → the passive with
paris fine —écrit par HugoNot naming it →onis almost always better