7.6.5

Avoiding The Passive

Test yourself

Making it Impersonal

The passive voice is mainly used in literature, it is not used in everyday French. You can avoid using the passive by making the sentence impersonal.

Illustrative background for Using 'on'Illustrative background for Using 'on' ?? "content

Using 'on'

  • 'On' is a very common way of making a sentence impersonal.
  • Cette lettre a été ecrite en 1998 →\rightarrow On a écrit cette lettre en 1998.
    • This letter had been written in 1998 →\rightarrow This letter was written in 1998.
  • Le dessert est servi après le plat principal →\rightarrow On sert le dessert après le plat principal.
    • Dessert is served after the main course →\rightarrow One serves the dessert after the main course.
Illustrative background for Using 'se'Illustrative background for Using 'se' ?? "content

Using 'se'

  • This is called the passive reflexive. You place a 'se' in front of a verb that is not normally reflexive to show a passive nature.
  • La pomme est mangée froide →\rightarrow La pomme se mange froid.
    • Apple is eaten cold.
  • Ce film est souvent vu →\rightarrow Ce film se voit souvent.
    • This film is often watched.

Making it Impersonal

The passive voice is mainly used in literature, it is not used in everyday French. You can avoid using the passive by making the sentence impersonal.

Illustrative background for Using 'on'Illustrative background for Using 'on' ?? "content

Using 'on'

  • 'On' is a very common way of making a sentence impersonal.
  • Cette lettre a été ecrite en 1998 →\rightarrow On a écrit cette lettre en 1998.
    • This letter had been written in 1998 →\rightarrow This letter was written in 1998.
  • Le dessert est servi après le plat principal →\rightarrow On sert le dessert après le plat principal.
    • Dessert is served after the main course →\rightarrow One serves the dessert after the main course.
Illustrative background for Using 'se'Illustrative background for Using 'se' ?? "content

Using 'se'

  • This is called the passive reflexive. You place a 'se' in front of a verb that is not normally reflexive to show a passive nature.
  • La pomme est mangée froide →\rightarrow La pomme se mange froid.
    • Apple is eaten cold.
  • Ce film est souvent vu →\rightarrow Ce film se voit souvent.
    • This film is often watched.
Illustrative background for Passive $$\rightarrow$$ activeIllustrative background for Passive $$\rightarrow$$ active ?? "content

Passive →\rightarrow active

  • Any passive sentence can become active. All you need to do is reorder the sentence.
    • La nourriture sera mangée par moi →\rightarrow Je mangerai la nourriture.
    • The food will be eaten by me →\rightarrow I will eat the food.
    • Les gâteaux étaient faits par ma mère →\rightarrow Ma mère faisait les gateaux.
    • The cakes were being made by my mum →\rightarrow My mum was making the cakes.

Jump to other topics

1Phonics/Alphabet/Spellings

1.1Alphabet & Accents

1.1.1The Alphabet

1.1.2Accents

2Family & Home

2.1Family

2.1.1My Name

2.1.2My Age

2.1.3Talking About Yourself

2.1.4Adjectives Must Agree

2.1.5Colours

2.1.6Physical Appearance

2.1.7Personality

2.1.8Family Members

2.1.9Eldest & Youngest

2.1.10Other Family Members

2.1.11Immediate Family - Listening

2.1.12Extended Family - Listening

2.1.13Family Life - Listening

2.1.14Family in Paris - Listening

2.1.15Numbers 1-10

2.1.16Numbers 11-20

2.1.17Numbers 21-29

2.1.18Numbers 30-100

2.1.19Months of the Year

2.1.20What Time Is It?

2.1.21Time of the Year

2.1.22Years

2.1.23Describing Others

2.1.24Friends

2.1.25Pets

2.1.26Days of the Week

2.1.27Frequency

2.2Home

2.2.1Where I Live

2.2.2My House

2.2.3Rooms of the House

2.2.4In My House

2.2.5Household Objects

2.2.6Home Activities

2.2.7Chores

2.2.8My Home - Listening

2.2.9My Furniture - Listening

2.3Customs & Traditions in French Speaking Countries

2.3.1Customs & Traditions in French Speaking Countries

2.3.2Celebrating

2.3.3French Celebrations

2.3.4Christmas Traditions

2.3.5Christmas in France - Listening

2.3.6National Holidays - Listening

2.4Relationships

2.4.1Couples

2.4.2Single

2.4.3Weddings

2.4.4Marriage & Divorce

2.4.5Love

2.4.6Cohabitation

2.4.7Good & Bad Relationships

2.4.8Ideal Partners

3Lifestyle

3.1Food

3.1.1Fruits

3.1.2Vegetables

3.1.3Meat & Fish

3.1.4Drinks

3.1.5Snacks

3.1.6Ordering

3.1.7Eating Out - Starters

3.1.8Eating Out - Main Course

3.1.9Eating Out - Dessert

3.1.10Favourite Food - Listening

3.1.11Breakfast - Listening

3.1.12Restaurants - Listening

3.2Sports & Games

3.2.1Games

3.2.2Sports with 'jouer'

3.2.3Sports with 'faire'

3.2.4Exercise - Listening

3.2.5Working Out - Listening

3.3Health

3.3.1Healthy Living

3.3.2Unhealthy Living

3.3.3Illness

3.3.4Pains

3.3.5Diets - Listening

4Education & Future Plans

4.1School

4.1.1'Ne... pas'

4.1.2School Subjects

4.1.3The School Day

4.1.4Describing Your School

4.1.5School Rules

4.1.6School Uniform

4.1.7School Years

4.1.8School Supplies

4.1.9Classroom

4.1.10Classroom Furniture

4.1.11School Bags - Listening

4.2Future Plans

4.2.1Jobs

4.2.2Opinions

4.2.3Places of Work

4.2.4Further Education

4.2.5Reasons Why

4.2.6Ambitions

4.2.7Jobs & Occupations - Listening

4.2.8Aspirations - Listening

5Leisure, Free Time & Media

5.1Free Time

5.1.1Opinion Phrases

5.1.2Conjugating Two Verbs

5.1.3Music

5.1.4Instruments

5.1.5Cinema

5.1.6TV

5.1.7Books

5.1.8Mobile Technology

5.1.9Social Networks

5.1.10Video Games

5.1.11Advantages of Technology

5.1.12Dangers of Technology

5.1.13Social Media

5.1.14Justifying Preferences

5.1.15Weekend Activities - Listening

5.1.16Summer Activities - Listening

5.2Shopping

5.2.1Spending & Saving

5.2.2Shopping

5.2.3Money

5.2.4Style & Fashion

5.2.5Shopping for Clothes

5.2.6Pocket Money

5.2.7Part-Time Jobs

5.2.8Fashion - Listening

6Wider World

6.1Town & Region

6.1.1Places in the Town

6.1.2Describing My Town

6.1.3Things To Do

6.1.4Improving My Town

6.1.5Directions

6.1.6Cities & Regions

6.1.7Cities & Villages

6.1.8Cities - Listening

6.1.9Regions - Listening

6.2Holidays

6.2.1Masculine Countries

6.2.2Feminine Countries

6.2.3Going on Holiday

6.2.4Accommodation

6.2.5Activities

6.2.6Making a Reservation

6.2.7Making a Complaint

6.2.8Good Weather

6.2.9Bad Weather

6.2.10French-Speaking Countries

6.2.11Dream Holidays - Listening

6.3Global Issues

6.3.1To Waste Energy

6.3.2To Save Energy

6.3.3Environmental Problems

6.3.4Priorities

6.3.5Addressing The Problem

6.3.6Volunteering

6.3.7Volunteer Work

6.3.8Social Causes

6.3.9Human Rights

6.3.10Freedom - Listening

7Grammar

7.1Present Tense

7.1.1Regular ER Verbs

7.1.25 Common ER Verbs

7.1.3Regular IR Verbs

7.1.45 Common IR Verbs

7.1.5Regular RE Verbs

7.1.65 Common RE Verbs

7.1.7Irregular ER Verbs - Aller

7.1.8Verbs That End in 'cer' and 'ger'

7.1.9Stem Changing Verbs

7.1.10Irregular IR Verbs Like 'Partir'

7.1.11Irregular IR Verbs That End in 'vrir'

7.1.12Irregular IR Verbs That End in 'enir'

7.1.13Irregular IR Verbs With No Pattern

7.1.14Modal Irregular IR Verbs

7.1.15Prendre

7.1.16Irregular RE Verbs That End in 'ttre'

7.1.17Irregular RE Verbs With No Pattern

7.1.18Reflexive Verbs

7.1.19Avoir

7.1.20Être

7.1.21Faire

7.1.22Aller

7.1.23Modal Verbs - Vouloir

7.1.24Modal Verbs - Pouvoir

7.1.25Modal Verbs - Devoir

7.2Perfect Tense

7.2.1Regular ER Verbs in the Perfect Tense

7.2.2Regular IR Verbs in the Perfect Tense

7.2.3Regular RE Verbs in the Perfect Tense

7.2.4Irregular Past Participle With 'Avoir'

7.2.5Irregular Past Participle With 'Avoir' 2

7.2.6Être IR & ER Verbs

7.2.7Être ER Verbs

7.2.8'Venir'

7.2.9'Naître' & 'Mourir'

7.3Imperfect Tense

7.3.1Imperfect Tense - Regular ER Verbs

7.3.2Imperfect Tense - 5 Common ER Verbs

7.3.3Imperfect Tense - Regular IR Verbs

7.3.4Imperfect Tense - 5 Common IR Verbs

7.3.5Imperfect Tense - Regular RE Verbs

7.3.6Imperfect Tense - 5 Common RE Verbs

7.3.7Imperfect Tense - Irregular ER Verbs

7.3.8Imperfect Tense - Être

7.3.9Imperfect Tense - Irregular IR Verbs

7.3.10Imperfect Tense - Irregular RE Verbs

7.3.11When to Use the Imperfect vs the Perfect

7.4Future Tense

7.4.1Immediate Future

7.4.2Future Tense - Regular ER Verbs

7.4.3Future Tense - 5 Common ER Verbs

7.4.4Future Tense - Regular IR Verbs

7.4.5Future Tense - 5 Common IR Verbs

7.4.6Future Tense - Regular RE Verbs

7.4.7Future Tense - 5 Common RE Verbs

7.4.8Future Tense - Irregulars

7.5Conditional Tense

7.5.1Conditional Tense - Regular ER Verbs

7.5.2Conditional Tense - 5 Common ER Verbs

7.5.3Conditional Tense - Regular IR Verbs

7.5.4Conditional Tense - 5 Common IR Verbs

7.5.5Conditional Tense - Regular RE Verbs

7.5.6Conditional Tense - 5 Common RE Verbs

7.5.7Conditional Tense - Irregulars

7.6Passive

7.6.1Present Passive Voice

7.6.2Perfect Passive Voice

7.6.3Future Passive Voice

7.6.4Imperfect Future Passive Voice

7.6.5Avoiding The Passive

7.6.6Making The Passive Active

7.7Imperative

7.7.1Imperatives

7.7.2Irregular Imperatives

8Other Grammar

8.1Nouns

8.1.1The, A

8.1.2Some

8.1.3Masculine

8.1.4Feminine

8.1.5Masculine Plurals

8.1.6Feminine Plurals

8.1.7Irregular Plurals

8.1.8Suffixes

8.2Adjectives

8.2.1Adjectives Must Agree

8.2.2Irregular Agreements

8.2.3No Pattern Irregulars

8.2.4Adjectives Which Change Their Meaning

8.2.5Before the Noun

8.2.6After the Noun

8.2.7Comparing Adjectives

8.2.8Superlative Adjectives

8.2.9Good, Better, Best

8.2.10Patterns

8.2.11Masculine and Feminine

8.3Pronouns

8.3.1Subject Pronouns

8.3.2Direct Object Pronouns

8.3.3Indirect Object Pronouns

8.3.4Reflexive Pronouns

8.3.5Indefinite Pronouns

8.3.6'Y' & 'En'

8.4Adverbs

8.4.1Adding 'ment'

8.4.2Exceptions

8.4.3Good, Badly, Fast

8.5Infinitive Phrases

8.5.1Infinitive Phrases

8.6Conjunctions

8.6.1But, And

8.6.2Then, So

8.6.3Because, While

8.6.4However, For Example

8.7Negatives

8.7.1'Ne...pas'

8.7.2Other Negatives

8.7.3Negative Sentences

8.8Prepositions

8.8.1In, To, Of

8.8.2Verbs That Use 'A' or 'De'

8.9Asking Questions

8.9.1What, Which, Where?

8.9.2How, When?

8.9.3'Est-ce que...'

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Imperfect Future Passive Voice

Making The Passive Active