This key facts covers Key Rules at a Glance within The passive, superlatives and en + present participle for GCSE French. Revise The passive, superlatives and en + present participle in Core Grammar Toolkit for GCSE French with 15 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic appears regularly enough that it should still be part of a steady revision cycle. It is section 5 of 6 in this topic. Use this key facts to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
📌 Key Rules at a Glance
- Passive = être + past participle (agreed) + par + agent: La lettre a été écrite par Marie.
- Past participle in passive agrees with the subject — masculine/feminine/singular/plural
- être can be in any tense in the passive: present, perfect, imperfect, future, conditional
- Natural spoken alternative: on + active verb — On a fermé la porte instead of La porte a été fermée
- Superlative: le/la/les + plus/moins + adjective — article agrees with the noun
- Adjective position is preserved in the superlative: normally-before adjectives still go before (le plus grand bâtiment); normally-after adjectives still go after (le bâtiment le plus moderne)
- "In/of" after superlative = de (never dans or que): le meilleur de la classe
- Irregular superlatives: bon → le meilleur | mauvais → le pire | bien → le mieux
- Never say le plus bon or le plus mauvais — always use the irregular forms
Practice questions for The passive, superlatives and en + present participle
Which sentence correctly uses the passive voice in French?
Which past participle form correctly completes this passive sentence? 'Les lettres ont été _____ par la secrétaire.'
Quick recall flashcards
la lettre a été écrite par ma mère
The letter was written by my mother. Perfect passive: a été (passé composé of être) + past participle. 'Écrite' has a feminine -e because 'la lettre' is feminine.
What are the irregular superlatives?
bon → le meilleur / la meilleure / les meilleur(e)s (the best). mauvais → le pire / la pire / les pires (the worst). C'est la meilleure école de la région (It is the best school in the area). C'est le pire moment de ma vie (It is the worst moment of my life). Never say 'le plus bon' or 'le plus mauvais'.