Speed Up Your French: Strategies to avoid common errors (2016)

Pronominal verbs to translate an English passive

1 A pronominal verb is often used in French where we would use a passive in English. You have already seen one example, Cela ne se fait pas (It is not done / It is not the done thing), in Chapter 5.

2 However, this construction only works if the subject is a thing, not a person, as in the following examples.

La vieille ville se visite à pied.

(The old town can be visited on foot.)

Ce vin se boit frais.

(This wine is drunk chilled.)

Ces pommes se vendent à 5 euros le kilo. Elles se vendent bien.

(These apples are being sold at 5 euros per kilo. They are selling well.)

La ville s’est métamorphosée.

(The town has been completely transformed.)

3 Note that if an agent (introduced by par) is expressed, you cannot use this construction. You must use the passive instead.

Paris a été métamorphosé par le baron Haussmann.

(Paris was transformed by Baron Haussmann.)

4 The pronominal verbs se voir and s’entendre followed by an infinitive offer a useful way of translating an English passive construction like ‘she was told that’.

Elle s’est vu / elle s’est entendu dire que l’hôtel était complet.

(She was told that the hotel had no vacancies.)

Note that there is no agreement between the past participle and the preceding object pronoun with se voir and s’entendre; see Points to remember below.

It is impossible to translate such a construction literally into French using a passive.

An utterance such as *elle a été dit que … is unacceptable. To understand why, you need to study the active construction with this verb. In English we tell someone something, but say something to someone. The French construction is always dire quelque chose à quelqu’un.

La réceptionniste a dit à la cliente que l’hôtel était complet.

(The receptionist told the client that the hotel had no vacancies.)

In French, it is only the direct object of an active construction that can become the subject of a passive construction, hence a literal translation of ‘she was told’ is impossible. The simplest and most common solution is to use the indefinite pronoun on as the subject of an active construction:

On lui a dit que l’hôtel était complet.

(She was told that the hotel had no vacancies.)

On lui a demandé de partir.

(She was asked to leave.)

However, this solution is not viable if the agent is expressed, hence the usefulness of the construction with se voir / s’entendre + infinitive.

Elle s’est vu / elle s’est entendu dire par la réceptionniste que l’hôtel était complet.

(She was told by the receptionist that the hotel had no vacancies.)

5 Other ‘double object’ verbs in English like ‘to give’ or ‘to show’ pose the same problem. In English, we can take an active construction and make either the direct or the indirect object into the subject of a passive. However, in French, it is only the direct object of the active sentence that can become the subject of a passive construction. For example:

Ils m’ont montré la photographie.

(They showed me the photograph = They showed the photograph to me.)

La photographie m’a été montrée. (acceptable utterance)

(The photograph was shown to me.)

* J’ai été montré la photographie. (unacceptable utterance)

(I was shown the photograph.)

Since it is only the direct object of montrer that can become the subject of a passive construction, the only possible interpretation of ‘J’ai été montré’ would be that I myself was shown, like an exhibit, to other people.

The usual solution to this translation problem is to use on as the indefinite subject of an active verb.

On m’a montré la photographie.

(I was shown the photograph.)

The construction se voir / s’entendre followed by an infinitive is a useful alternative if a specific agent is expressed, as in the example below.

Elle s’est vu offrir des fleurs par ses collègues.

(She was given flowers by her colleagues.)

However, the simplest solution in such a case is to turn the sentence around and make the agent, ses collègues, the subject of an active construction in French.

Ses collègues lui ont offert des fleurs.

(Her colleagues gave her flowers.)

6 There are a number of French verbs that take both a direct and an indirect object.

The most common are:

Remember the possibility of using se voir / s’entendre followed by the infinitive of one of these verbs to translate an English passive. For example:

Il s’est vu / il s’est entendu refuser l’accès du bâtiment.

(He was refused entry to the building.)