Karamö, le prof virtuelLeçon 2 sur 15
The passive voice
Je sais transformer une phrase active en phrase passive (et inversement) à tous les temps, et je sais quand la voix passive est préférable.
- 1 h
- 6 exercices corrigés
- 1 schéma
- QCM de 5 questions
À la fin de la leçon, tu sauras :
- Former le passif avec be + participe passé à tous les temps
- Transformer une phrase active en passive en gardant le temps
- Utiliser ou supprimer le complément d'agent (by…)
- Maîtriser les cas particuliers : modaux, verbes à deux compléments, « It is said that… »
Avant de commencer : Les 12 temps de l'anglais, les participes passés des verbes irréguliers, les notions de sujet et de complément d'objet.
1Je découvre
Aïssatou lit un article en anglais sur l'économie de la Guinée pour préparer un exposé. Elle tombe sur cette phrase :
« Bauxite is mined in the region of Boké and is exported by ship. »
Elle remarque qu'on ne dit pas qui extrait la bauxite ni qui l'exporte. La phrase met en avant la bauxite elle-même, pas les ouvriers ni les compagnies. Son frère Ousmane lui explique : « C'est la voix passive. On l'utilise quand ce qui compte, c'est ce qui subit l'action, ou quand on ne sait pas, ou ne veut pas dire, qui agit. »
Au BAC, la transformation « active → passive » revient très souvent dans la partie grammaire, et on la retrouve partout dans les textes scientifiques, les journaux et les rapports.
Comment former la voix passive à tous les temps, et comment transformer correctement une phrase active en phrase passive ?
2Je comprends
1. Actif et passif : qui fait quoi ?
À la voix active, le sujet fait l'action : The workers build the bridge.
À la voix passive, le sujet subit l'action : The bridge is built (by the workers).
Le complément d'objet de la phrase active devient le sujet de la phrase passive. L'ancien sujet devient le complément d'agent, introduit par by ; on le supprime souvent.
- 1Phrase active : The workers (sujet) build (verbe) the bridge (objet).
- 2Le complément d'objet « the bridge » devient le sujet de la phrase passive.
- 3Le verbe devient be (au même temps que le verbe actif) + participe passé : is built.
- 4L'ancien sujet devient complément d'agent, avec by : by the workers (facultatif).
- 5Phrase passive : The bridge is built by the workers.
2. La formation : be + participe passé
Le passif se forme toujours avec be conjugué + participe passé du verbe. C'est be qui porte le temps de la phrase active ; le participe passé ne change jamais.
| Temps | Actif | Passif |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | They clean the room. | The room is cleaned. |
| Present continuous | They are cleaning the room. | The room is being cleaned. |
| Past simple | They cleaned the room. | The room was cleaned. |
| Past continuous | They were cleaning the room. | The room was being cleaned. |
| Present perfect | They have cleaned the room. | The room has been cleaned. |
| Past perfect | They had cleaned the room. | The room had been cleaned. |
| Future simple | They will clean the room. | The room will be cleaned. |
| Future perfect | They will have cleaned the room. | The room will have been cleaned. |
| Be going to | They are going to clean the room. | The room is going to be cleaned. |
| Modal | They must clean the room. | The room must be cleaned. |
Les temps « perfect continuous » (have been cleaning) ne s'emploient pratiquement pas au passif.
Accord : be s'accorde avec le nouveau sujet. The students write letters → *Letters are written by the students* (pluriel).
3. Garder ou supprimer « by… » ?
On supprime le complément d'agent quand :
- il est inconnu : My phone was stolen. (on ne sait pas par qui) ;
- il est évident : The thief was arrested. (par la police, évidemment) ;
- il est vague : people, someone, they, we : English is spoken all over the world.
On le garde quand il apporte une information importante : « L'Enfant noir » was written by Camara Laye.
Méthode
Pour transformer une phrase active en passive :
- Je repère le sujet, le verbe et le complément d'objet de la phrase active.
- Je repère le temps du verbe actif (et le modal s'il y en a un).
- Le complément d'objet devient sujet ; j'accorde be avec lui (is/are, was/were, has/have).
- J'écris be au même temps que le verbe actif, puis le participe passé du verbe.
- J'ajoute « by + ancien sujet » seulement si cette information est utile (je supprime people, someone, they).
- Je vérifie les pronoms : un pronom objet devient pronom sujet (him → he, them → they).
Exemple
Turn into the passive voice: « Someone has stolen Sékou's bicycle. »
Sujet : someone ; verbe : has stolen (present perfect) ; objet : Sékou's bicycle.
Nouveau sujet : Sékou's bicycle (singulier) → has.
Present perfect passif : has been + participe passé (stolen).
« Someone » est vague → on supprime le complément d'agent.
Answer: Sékou's bicycle has been stolen.
Exemple
Turn into the passive voice: « The teacher is correcting our exam papers. »
Temps : present continuous (is correcting). Objet : our exam papers (pluriel) → are.
Present continuous passif : are being + participe passé.
L'agent est utile (on veut savoir qui corrige) → on le garde.
Answer: Our exam papers are being corrected by the teacher.
4. Les cas particuliers
Verbes à deux compléments (give, send, offer, show, tell, teach, lend) : on peut prendre l'un ou l'autre comme sujet, mais on préfère la personne.
The headmaster gave Fatoumata a prize.
→ Fatoumata was given a prize (by the headmaster). (le plus courant)
→ A prize was given to Fatoumata.
Les questions : l'auxiliaire passe devant le sujet.
Did they repair the road? → Was the road repaired?
Who wrote this book? → Who was this book written by? (ou By whom was this book written?)
Les phrases négatives : la négation se place après le premier auxiliaire.
They haven't paid the workers. → The workers haven't been paid.
Les verbes d'opinion (say, believe, think, know, report) : deux constructions passives.
People say that the Fouta-Djallon is the water tower of West Africa.
→ It is said that the Fouta-Djallon is the water tower of West Africa.
→ The Fouta-Djallon is said to be the water tower of West Africa.
Faire faire quelque chose (causatif) : have / get + objet + participe passé.
Lansana had his phone repaired. (Lansana a fait réparer son téléphone ; ce n'est pas lui qui l'a réparé.)
5. Seuls les verbes transitifs se mettent au passif
Un verbe sans complément d'objet (arrive, sleep, die, happen, go) n'a pas de passif : on ne peut pas écrire ~~The accident was happened~~, mais seulement The accident happened.
| On emploie le passif pour… | Exemple |
|---|---|
| mettre en avant ce qui subit l'action | Rice is grown in Lower Guinea. |
| taire un agent inconnu | The shop was broken into last night. |
| écrire un texte scientifique ou officiel | The solution is heated to 80 °C. |
3Je retiens
Je retiens
Passif = be (au temps du verbe actif) + participe passé.
Objet actif → sujet passif ; sujet actif → « by + agent » (souvent supprimé).
is/are cleaned ; is being cleaned ; was/were cleaned ; has/have been cleaned ; had been cleaned ; will be cleaned ; must be cleaned.
On supprime by people / someone / they, et l'agent évident ou inconnu.
Deux compléments : She was given a book. / A book was given to her.
It is said that… = He is said to…
Les verbes sans complément d'objet (happen, arrive, die) n'ont pas de passif.
4Erreurs fréquentes
- Changer de temps pendant la transformation : « They built the school » donne « The school was built », pas « The school is built ».
- Oublier « being » au present ou au past continuous : « The road is being repaired », pas « The road is repaired » pour une action en cours.
- Mal accorder be : « The mangoes were sold », pas « The mangoes was sold ».
- Écrire le prétérit au lieu du participe passé : « The letter was written », pas « The letter was wrote ».
5Je m’exerce
1Exercice 1
Give the past participle of these verbs: build, take, speak, grow, choose, find, teach, write.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
built, taken, spoken, grown, chosen, found, taught, written.
2Exercice 2
Turn these sentences into the passive voice.
a) Farmers grow cassava in Forest Guinea.
b) The police arrested the thief.
c) They will open the new hospital next month.
d) Somebody has cleaned the classroom.
e) The mechanic is repairing my father's car.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) Cassava is grown in Forest Guinea (by farmers).
b) The thief was arrested (by the police). (agent évident, on peut le supprimer)
c) The new hospital will be opened next month.
d) The classroom has been cleaned.
e) My father's car is being repaired by the mechanic.
3Exercice 3
Turn into the passive. Keep or remove the agent as you think best.
a) People speak Pular, Malinké and Soussou in Guinea.
b) Camara Laye wrote « L'Enfant noir ».
c) You must wash your hands before eating.
d) Did the teacher explain the lesson?
e) They haven't finished the road yet.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) Pular, Malinké and Soussou are spoken in Guinea. (on supprime « people »)
b) « L'Enfant noir » was written by Camara Laye. (agent important, on le garde)
c) Your hands must be washed before eating.
d) Was the lesson explained by the teacher?
e) The road hasn't been finished yet.
4Exercice 4
Give two passive sentences for each active sentence.
a) The school gave Hawa a scholarship.
b) People believe that education is the key to development.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) Hawa was given a scholarship (by the school). / A scholarship was given to Hawa (by the school).
b) It is believed that education is the key to development. / Education is believed to be the key to development.
5Exercice 5
Turn these passive sentences into the active voice.
a) The match was won by Horoya.
b) The letters will be posted by my brother.
c) The bridge had been destroyed by the floods.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) Horoya won the match.
b) My brother will post the letters.
c) The floods had destroyed the bridge.
6Exercice 6
(BAC format) Read the text and do the tasks.
*The Kaleta dam was built on the Konkouré River and was inaugurated in 2015. Electricity is produced there and is sent to several towns. Before the dam was built, many districts were often left without power. Today, more dams are being studied by engineers.*
a) Pick out all the verbs in the passive voice and give their tense.
b) Why does the author use the passive voice so often in this text?
c) Turn into the active voice: « More dams are being studied by engineers. »
d) Write two sentences in the passive about your school (one in the past simple, one in the present perfect).
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) was built, was inaugurated (past simple passive) ; is produced, is sent (present simple passive) ; was built (past simple passive) ; were left (past simple passive) ; are being studied (present continuous passive).
b) Because the author wants to focus on the dam, the electricity and the districts, not on the people who did the actions; the agents are not important or are obvious.
c) Engineers are studying more dams.
d) Example answer: Our school was built many years ago. New tables have been bought for the laboratory.
Cherche d’abord seul, sur ton cahier, puis ouvre le corrigé pour comparer.
6Je vérifie
Choisis une réponse pour chaque question : la correction s’affiche aussitôt.
Crée ton compte élève gratuit pour cocher les leçons terminées, suivre ta progression et gagner des points au QCM.
