Back
Advanced

The Passive Voice & on

Two ways to avoid naming the doer

Passive: être + past participle

The participle agrees with the subject.

💬 Examples
La lettre est écrite.
The letter is written.
📝 être + participle (agrees)
Les maisons ont été vendues.
The houses were sold.
📝 Passé composé passive
The agent uses par

'By X' = par X.

💬 Examples
Le livre a été écrit par Hugo.
The book was written by Hugo.
📝 par = by (agent)
Il a été aidé par ses amis.
He was helped by his friends.
📝 Agent phrase
French often prefers on

An active 'on' avoids the passive.

💬 Examples
On parle français ici.
French is spoken here.
📝 on instead of the passive
On a volé ma voiture.
My car was stolen.
📝 on for an unknown agent