Forme

Key Formula

Infinitif

INFINITIF
infinitif actif	to clean (nettoyer)
infinitif passif	to be cleaned (être nettoyé)
passé de l'infinitif	to have cleaned (avoir nettoyé)
passé de l'infinitif passif	to have been cleaned (avoir été nettoyé)

Formes passives par temps

	Simple	Continuous
présent	is cleaned	is being cleaned
prétérit	was cleaned	was being cleaned
futur	will be cleaned	will be being cleaned
Present Perfect	has been cleaned	ne s'emploie pas
Past Perfect	had been cleaned	ne s'emploie pas

Exemples

Actif	Passif
A sees B	B is seen by A
A is seeing B	B is being seen by A
A saw B	B was seen by A
A was seeing B	B was being seen by A
A has seen B	B has been seen by A
A will see B	B will be seen by A

Notes

Note

À la forme simple (present simple, past simple, etc.), la structure est : to be conjugué + participe passé (V-ed). Ex. The car was cleaned yesterday. (La voiture a été nettoyée hier.)
À la forme continue (present continuous, past continuous, etc.), la structure est : to be conjugué + being + participe passé (V-ed). Ex. At 9 o'clock this morning, my car was being cleaned. (À 9h00 ce matin, on était en train de nettoyer ma voiture.)
Avant d'ajouter -ing ou -ed, il faut doubler la consonne finale si les deux conditions suivantes sont remplies :
- le verbe se termine par une seule voyelle suivie d'une seule consonne ;
- la dernière syllabe est accentuée (ou le verbe ne comporte qu'une seule syllabe). Pour vérifier l'accentuation, il faut consulter un dictionnaire.
Le complément à la voix active devient le sujet à la voix passive. Actif : Peter cleaned my car. Passif : My car was cleaned by Peter.
À la voix passive, le sujet subit l'action du verbe. Si l'on mentionne l'agent (sujet à la voix active), il est introduit par la préposition by.

Active and Passive Forms

Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have active forms and passive forms. You must learn to recognize the difference to successfully speak English.

Active Form

In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence, and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.

Key Rule

Structure [thing doing the action] + [verb] + [thing receiving the action]

Subject (doing action)	Verb	Object (receiving action)
The professor	teaches	the students
John	washes	the dishes

Passive Form

In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence. The thing doing the action is optional and is placed at the end of the sentence. The passive is used when the receiver of the action is more important, unknown, or intentionally not mentioned.

Key Rule

Structure [thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle] + (by + thing doing action)

The students are taught by the professor.
The dishes are washed by John.

Active / Passive Overview

Key Comparison

Tense	Active	Passive
Simple Present	Once a week, Tom cleans the house.	Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.
Present Continuous	Right now, Sarah is writing the letter.	Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah.
Simple Past	Sam repaired the car.	The car was repaired by Sam.
Past Continuous	The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store.	The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store.
Present Perfect	Many tourists have visited that castle.	That castle has been visited by many tourists.
Present Perfect Continuous	Recently, John has been doing the work.	Recently, the work has been being done by John.
Past Perfect	George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license.	Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic's license.
Past Perfect Continuous	The chef had been preparing the restaurant's dinners for two years before he moved to Paris.	The restaurant's dinners had been being prepared for two years before he moved to Paris.
Simple Future (will)	Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM.	The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.
Future (be going to)	Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight.
Future Continuous (will)	At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John.
Future Perfect (will)	They will have completed the project before the deadline.	The project will have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect (be going to)	They are going to have completed the project before the deadline.	The project is going to have been completed before the deadline.
Used to	Jerry used to pay the bills.	The bills used to be paid by Jerry.
Would (habitual past)	My mother would always make the pies.	The pies would always be made by my mother.
Future in the Past (would)	I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 PM.	I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM.
Future in the Past (was going to)	I thought Sally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be made by Sally tonight.

Active / Passive Verb Forms