Transcript the original Powepoint Presentation

Passive Voice
French doesn't like it!
English doesn't use it passively!
Let's do a standard definition of
what the passive voice is.

What do you think the passive voice is?
Look at the difference between
these two sentences.

The Zambonie crushed the man.
The man was crushed by the Zambonie.
In French, we have
the same situation.
Le tigre a mangé la femme.
 La femme a été mangée par le tigre.
 The passive voice indicates that the subject
is acted upon rather than acting.

Use of the
Passive Voice in French

The Passive voice is rarely used in French.
Notice the difference!


Look how these ideas
are formulated in
French and then in
English.
Notice how French
makes verbs active
where English makes
them inactive (or
intransitive).




Je m'appelle Norm.
I am called Norm (by
who?).
Le bâtiment se trouve
au coin de Pins et StDenis.
The building is located
on the corner of Pine
and City Hall Streets.
The polite subjunctive
Le subjonctif de politesse
Look at the sentence below.
 Soyez donc tout à fait rassuré, j'ai pris les
mesures nécessaires pour que votre
demande soit étudiée dans les plus brefs
délais.

Why don't you say the
sentence as it is written below?
J'ai pris les mesures nécessaires pour étudier
rapidement votre demande.
 Why is 'soit' in the first sentence?
 It indicates a certain uncertainty which
French also uses to mean politeness.


Do you think that the man who 'étudier's the
request 'rapidement' is going to give it the
same attention as the request 'soit étudiée'?
The subjunctive in English is
almost nonexistant.
It really only remains as a form of 'to be'
and is barely used there.
 Were I to do that, I would be arrested.
 We most likely would say,
If I did that, I would be arrested.

The Passive in English
English uses the Passive Voice to do the job
that the Subjunctive Form of the verb does
in French.
 It softens the force of the action and so
makes it seem more polite.

The Form of the Passive Voice

Notice that in English as in French that the
passive is formed by using the verb to
be and the past participle of the verb.
Simple Present

I am rejected every time I talk to her.
Present Progressive

I can't believe I am being subjected to
another grammar lesson again.
Simple Past

I was confused by the last one about
question formation.
Past Progressive

I was being told the rules for it by Norm
when he said something that made no sense
at all.
Present Perfect

I have been recorded on many occasions.
Past Perfect

I had been given the words before the
recording started.
'Be Going To’ and 'Will'

They are going to be stopped for sure.

She will be failed because she just can’t get
those question forms right.
Modals (Should, May, Can etc.)
and Past Modals

We may not be invited after all.

She should have been warned about the
food.