Frenchvita

The active and passive voices

Like in English, French forms its passive voice with the help of the auxiliary verb to be/être followed by the past participle.

The passive voice is, however, used more in English than in French.

The French language prefers to use the pronoun ON (meaning one) followed by the active voice:

• On a vendu la maison
  • One has sold the house / The house has been sold.

  It is really the French equivalent to “it was sold”
  

Often in English the expression “I was told” is used, in French you will actually prefer to use the Active voice with ON: On m’a dit.

This obviously means that we don’t know who or what is the agent in French when in English you can always say I was told by my brother

in French if you need to know who or what is the agent then you have to return to the Active Voice:

• Mon frère m’a dit que …..
  

Exercise: Translate into French

Now that the verb has been thoroughly covered, it's time to consider the next section on Nouns, Adjectives and Pronouns which starts with: The Noun