Le Passif

Question 1

What is the passive voice and why is it used?

Answer 1

Alters the focus of the sentence as it puts the OBJECT at the beginning and the SUBJECT at the end or completely removes the subject.
It improves cohesion between sentences.

Question 2

How is the passive generally formed?

Answer 2

Part of verb ‘to be’ in tense required + past participle
If followed by optional ‘by’ use ‘par’ or ‘de’
(Usually ‘par’ for verbs describing an event, ‘de’ for verbs describing a state or emotion)

Question 3

Should the past participle agree with any part of the sentence?

Answer 3

Yes, it must agree with the subject.

Question 4

What is the exception to the passive voice relating to indirect objects?

Answer 4

They cannot become part of the passive voice in French.

Question 5

What are three passivising constructions and when can they be used?

Answer 5

Se faire/se laisser + infinitive - to get oneself/to let oneself be
e.g. il s’est fait nommer à Lille

Se voir + infinitive - to see oneself
e.g. elle s’est vu remettre un prix

S’entendre + infinitive - variation of the above when the infinitive has an ‘audio’ meaning
e.g. il s’est entendu dire qu’il y arriverait

Can only be used in relation to living things.