C)The Passive
Voice / La voie passive
1)
Definitions
2) When to use the passive voice?
3) Rules of transformation
1) Definitions /
Définitions:
- Consider the
following two sentences:
- Considérez les deux phrases suivantes:
(a)
The
teacher explains the lesson.
(L' enseignant explique la leçon.)
Subject
verb object
(b)
The
lesson is explained by the teacher.
(La leçon est
expliqué par l'
enseignant.)
Subject
verb
agent
- The sentence (a) is in the
active form because the subject (the teacher) is the doer of the action.
- La phrase (a) est à la forme active parce que c'est le sujet ( the
teacher) qui fait l' action.
- The sentence (b) is in the passive voice because the subject (the lesson)
is not the doer of the action but undergoes the action.
- La phrase (b) est à la voie passive parce que le sujet (the lesson) ne
fait pas l' action mais il la subit.
2) When to use the passive voice?
/
Quand utiliser la
voie passive?:
* We use the passive voice:
* On utilise la voie passive:
- when it is more interesting to stress one thing done rather than its
doer.
- lorsqu' il est plus intérrèssant d' accentuer sur une chose faite
plutôt que celui qui la fait.
e.g. This monument was built in 1964.
par exemple: Ce monument est construit en 1964.
- or when the doer is unknown.
- ou quand celui qui la fait ( le sujet de l' action) est inconnu.
e.g. My wallet has been stolen.
par exemple: Mon porte-monnaie est volé.
3) Rules of
transformation / Règles de transformation:
a)- When we turn a sentence from the active to
the passive voice, the object of the active becomes the subject of the
passive, and the subject of the active becomes the agent of the passive
introduced by “by”.
a)- Quand on transforme une phrase de la forme active à la forme passive,
l' objet de l' active devient le sujet de la passive, et le sujet de l'
active devient l' agent de la passive introduit par "by".
b)- In order
to find the form of the verb of the passive, we conjugate the auxiliary
to be in the tense of the verb of the active and we follow it by
the past participle of the verb of the active voice:
b)- Pour trouver la forme du verbe de la voie passive, on conjugue l'
auxiliaire to be (être) au temps du verbe de l' active et le suivre
par le participe passé du verbe de la voie active:
Tense of the Verb
Temps du verbe |
Active Form
la forme active |
Passive Form
la forme passive |
Present Simple |
take /
takes |
am/is/are
taken |
Present Continuous |
am/is/are
taken |
am/is/are
being taken |
Present Perfect |
has/have
taken |
has/have
been taken |
Past Simple |
took |
was/were
taken |
Past Continuous |
was/were
taken |
was/were
being taken |
Past Perfect |
had taken |
had been
taken |
Future Simple |
will/shall take |
will/shall be taken |
Conditional |
would/should take |
would/should be taken |
c)
-Verbs which have two objects can be made passive in two ways.
c) les verbes qui ont deux objets peuvent être transformés en voie
passive en deux manières:
e.g. They handed me a note.
par exemple: Il m' ont remi une note.
- 1st way: It is the first object
of the active (“me”) which we make the subject of the passive:
I was handed a note.
- 1ère manière: C' est le premier objet de l' active
("me") qu' on fait le le sujet de la voie passive:
I was handed a note.
- 2nd way: It is the second object
of the active which we make the subject of the passive:
A note was handed to me.
- 2ème manière: c' est le duxième objet de l' active qu' ont fait
le sujet de la voie passive:
A note was handed to me.
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