This introduction covers The Best of Everything — Passive Voice and Superlatives 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 1 of 6 in this topic. Use this introduction to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
🏆 The Best of Everything — Passive Voice and Superlatives
You're writing a formal letter about your school for AQA. You want to say "The exams are taken in May" without mentioning who takes them — that's the passive. Or you want to describe something as "the most interesting subject" or "the worst day of my life" — that's the superlative. Both structures signal grammatical sophistication on AQA Higher writing and translation tasks, and both have rules precise enough to make or lose marks.
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'.