The passive voice
Summary
The French passive is être (in the tense of the active verb) plus a past participle that agrees with the subject; the agent, if named, is introduced by par (or de for states), and only transitive verbs can be made passive.
Explanation
The passive voice turns the object of an active sentence into the subject, putting the focus on what is done rather than on who does it. Le chat mange la souris (active) becomes La souris est mangée par le chat (passive). The thing acted upon (la souris) is now the grammatical subject, and the original subject becomes the optional agent.
It is formed with the auxiliary être plus the past participle, and the key point is that être carries the tense of the original active verb, while the participle stays put. Present: la lettre est écrite. Passé composé: la lettre a été écrite. Imparfait: la lettre était écrite. Futur: la lettre sera écrite. So a compound passive can stack two participles (a été écrite), which is normal.
Because the auxiliary is être, the past participle always agrees in gender and number with the subject: la maison est vendue, les maisons sont vendues, les livres sont vendus. This subject agreement is automatic and is one of the clearest signals that you are looking at a passive rather than a passé composé with avoir.
The agent — the doer — is introduced by par in the great majority of cases: la ville a été détruite par l'ennemi. A small set of verbs expressing a state, feeling or lasting relation use de instead: il est respecté de tous, elle était entourée de ses amis, ce mot est suivi du subjonctif. Very often the agent is simply left out when it is unknown or unimportant: le pont a été construit en 1890.
Two limits matter. First, only transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object) can be made passive; an intransitive verb like aller or a verb followed by à (téléphoner à) cannot. Second, French uses the passive far less than English. Where English reaches for a passive, French very often prefers on + an active verb (On parle français ici = French is spoken here) or a pronominal-passive (Ça se vend bien = It is sold well / sells well).
Rule of thumb: to build a passive, take être in the tense you need, add the past participle of the main verb, make that participle agree with the subject, and attach the agent with par (or de for states) — but first ask whether on + active or a pronominal form would sound more natural.
Examples
La souris est mangée par le chat. — The mouse is eaten by the cat. (Present passive: être (présent) + participle agreeing with la souris; agent with par.)
Cette cathédrale a été construite au treizième siècle. — This cathedral was built in the thirteenth century. (Passé composé passive (a été construite); agent omitted because it is unknown.)
Les résultats seront annoncés demain. — The results will be announced tomorrow. (Future passive: être (futur) carries the tense; participle agrees (annoncés, masc. pl.).)
Le directeur est respecté de tous ses employés. — The director is respected by all his employees. (Agent with de, used for a state/feeling rather than a one-off action.)
Ici, on parle français. — French is spoken here. (The natural French alternative: on + active verb instead of a passive.)
Ce produit se vend bien dans toute l'Europe. — This product sells well throughout Europe. (Pronominal-passive: another common way to avoid a true passive.)
Common mistakes
La lettre a été écrit par Marie.
La lettre a été écrite par Marie.
In the passive voice, the past participle is always used with être and must agree in gender and number with the subject. The subject here is la lettre (feminine), so the participle must be écrite, not the invariable masculine écrit.
Prerequisites
Related rules
passive-voicevoiceparticiple-agreementsyntax