Passive voice and agent — identify and understand

Passive voice and agent: progressive explanation, topic-specific examples, guided exercises and a corrected assessment.

Duration: 25 minPrerequisites: discours-indirect-questions-produirePass mark: 80%

1. Objective

By the end, you will identify and explain “Passive voice and agent” in new examples.

2. Discover

Read the examples for “Passive voice and agent — identify and understand” as language you might use today. What clue helps you choose the right structure?

3. Understand

In a passive sentence, the agent tells you who performs the action. It is often introduced by “par”. First identify who receives the action, then who performs it.

Le dossier a été signé par la directrice.La route est bloquée par des travaux.Le tableau a été peint par Monet.La réservation a été annulée par le client.Le projet sera présenté par notre équipe.Cette décision a été prise par le conseil municipal.

Watch out

Start with the subject and time reference. Only then choose the tense or verb form: word-for-word translation often leads to the wrong tense.

4. Guided practice

5. Independent practice

6. Write / speak

Write three sentences you could genuinely say or send. Change the subject, context and at least one lexical element.

7. Check your learning

8. Remember

In a passive sentence, the agent tells you who performs the action.

Download worksheet (PDF)

9. Now I can…

I can recognise “Passive voice and agent” in a new example.
I can justify my choice and create an example.