French · Chapter 21 · Lesson 8 · Grammar primer
The passive voice
etre (in any tense) + past participle agreeing with the subject (la lettre a ete ecrite), the agent introduced by par, and the ways French prefers to avoid the passive: on (on m'a vole mon sac) and the pronominal passive (ca ne se dit pas).
The short version
I was given a book cannot be a French passive
French can only promote a direct object to passive subject, never an indirect one. In someone gave a book to me, the book is direct and I am indirect, so the English passive has no French equivalent. Use on plus an active verb, and the same fix covers I was told and we were asked.
On m'a donné un livre.
The tense lives in être, the agreement in the participle
Build the passive with être plus a past participle, and change the tense on être alone: la lettre est écrite, a été écrite, sera écrite. The participle hangs off être like an adjective, so it agrees with the subject: les maisons ont été construites.
Les maisons ont été construites en 1900.
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