La voix passive et ses alternatives (on, se faire + inf.)

Unité GR-36 · campagne 18 · a été construit, on a construit, s'est fait voler : trois façons d'effacer l'agent.

The French passive is être + past participle, with the participle agreeing with the subject and the agent, if named, introduced by par: Ce roman a été écrit par une jeune autrice. The tense lives entirely in être — conjugate it and the passive follows:

The trap is a été : learners write est été or drop the auxiliary. Say the passé composé of être out loud — il a été — and bolt the participle on.

But B2 French is knowing when not to use the passive. Spoken French prefers two alternatives:

1. On + active verb whenever the agent is unknown or generic. La décision a été prise → On a pris la décision. This maps neatly onto the Russian indefinite plural — решение приняли — which has no subject at all; on is its French slot-filler. If your Russian sentence would use the subjectless они-form, reach for on before the passive.
2. Se faire + infinitive when the subject suffers the action, usually unpleasantly: Il s'est fait voler son vélo. The construction keeps the victim as subject — something the plain passive cannot do here, since son vélo is what got stolen. Note the participle fait is invariable in this construction.

One boundary: only verbs with a direct object can go passive. Téléphoner à quelqu'un has no COD, so elle a été téléphonée is impossible — another reason on earns its keep.

The practice covers two passive tenses, se faire, and the on replacement.

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