What is the passive tense?

This is a tricky one many students struggle with. The passive isn’t acutally a tense, it’s a “mood”, since it can be put into virtually any tense! The mood you will have learned at GCSE is called the indicative, e.g. Je regarde la télé. This is where the subject is the main focus of the sentence - I am watching the TV. Whereas the passive places the importance onto the object (e.g. la télé) by flipping the sentence around. La télé est regardée par moi. Be careful though, because here ‘regardé’ needs an extra ‘e’ because it’s describing the TV (as being watched) and is feminine.

HC
Answered by Henry C. French tutor

2425 Views

See similar French A Level tutors

Related French A Level answers

All answers ▸

Identify and explain the tense used for each verb in the following sentence: Il se dépêche pour éviter d'arriver en retard.


How do I know when to use the passé composé as opposed to the imparfait?


How do I use "y" and "en" in sentences?


What does the character 'Cyrano' symbolise in Cyrano de Bergerac and why is this important in the socio-historic context of the play?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning