Passif en anglais

1. Forme de base

Sujet + BE (conjugué) + Participe Passé (+ by-agent)

Actif : They build houses.

Passif : Houses are built (by them).

Note : “by…” est souvent omis.

2. Passif selon les temps

Présent simple : The car is washed every week.

Passé simple : The house was built in 1900.

Futur simple : The report will be finished tomorrow.

Present perfect : The project has been completed.

Past perfect : The meeting had been canceled.

Modaux : The problem can be solved.

Modaux + perfect : The project should have been completed.

3. Quand utiliser le passif ?

Agent inconnu : My wallet was stolen.

Agent non important : The road is cleaned at night.

Accent sur l’objet / résultat : The law was passed in 1999.

4. Cas avancés

Deux objets

They gave me a book.

I was given a book.

A book was given to me.

It is said that… / He is said to…

People say she is rich.

It is said that she is rich.

She is said to be rich.

Modaux perfect

He must have been seen by the police.

Verbes à particule

Everyone laughed at him.

He was laughed at.

5. Points d’attention

Certains verbes ne se mettent pas au passif : fit, have, resemble…

Trop de passif = style lourd (surtout presse, science, droit).

Attention aux temps :

They told us… → We were told… (et pas “have been”).

Résumé : Actif → Passif = BE (conjugué au temps voulu) + Participe Passé