Avoiding the passive: on, se and se faire

French can build a passive, but it uses it far less than English. Where English hides the doer, French reaches for one of three lighter structures. All of these mean my bag was stolen, from everyday speech to the news:

The glosses: The concert has been cancelled. That isn't said. He had his bike stolen. The letter was written by Marie. How the true passive is built is on the passive voice.

On + an active verb

On means someone, people or they, and takes an ordinary active verb. It is the commonest way French says an English passive with no doer:

• Ici, on parle français. - French is spoken here.
• On m'a volé mon sac. - My bag was stolen. (literally, someone stole my bag from me)
• On a fermé le magasin. - The shop has been closed.

On always takes the il / elle form of the verb, however many people it stands for: on a, on va, on fait.

On cannot take a doer. The moment you want by whom, use an active sentence or the true passive:

The se passive: ça ne se dit pas

Make the verb reflexive with se, and the thing acted on becomes the subject. It says how something is generally done:

• Ça ne se dit pas. - That isn't said. / You don't say that.
• Ce mot s'écrit avec deux n. - That word is spelt with two n's.
• Les billets se vendent en ligne. - Tickets are sold online.

The verb agrees with its subject: les billets se vendent, plural. No doer can be named.

When se does not work

Two limits, and English speakers trip on both.

With a person as subject, se reads as a real reflexive: the children wash themselves, not are washed; so say on lave les enfants, the children are washed. And se has no room for by whom: name the doer as the subject of an active verb, the French drink wine.

With a thing as subject, se also works for what is happening now: Les maisons se vendent bien en ce moment. - Houses are selling well at the moment.