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

1936 Views

See similar French A Level tutors

Related French A Level answers

All answers ▸

Speaking exam: Parler français a une forte importance internationale (in English : Speaking French has strong international importance)


Translate the following sentence into French: Who will keep it (the dog) for two weeks when we go abroad?


How does perfect tense work in French?


What is the past historic tense?


We're here to help

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

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences