📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 9 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 2 · Les tournures impersonnelles
On, nous, le passif — qui parle ?
Module 13 of the free French course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 9 of 30: French has four ways to avoid naming an agent. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 9.
The words
French
English
Say it
on a décidé
it was decided (someone)
oh(n) nah day-see-DAY
la décision a été prise
the decision was taken
lah day-see-zyoh(n) ah ay-tay PREEZ
il a été décidé
it has been decided
eel ah ay-tay day-see-DAY
l'agentmasculine — the article elides to l'
the doer
lah-ZHAH(n)
cacher
to hide
kah-SHAY
signer une décision
to sign off a decision
see-nyay ewn day-see-ZYOH(n)
vague dans le sujet
vague about who
vahg dah(n) luh sew-ZHEH
l'anonymatmasculine — the article elides to l'
anonymity
lah-noh-nee-MAH
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
French has four ways to avoid naming an agent, and choosing between them is a C2 decision. On a décidé (somebody, vaguely). Nous avons décidé (us, and I include myself). La décision a été prise (nobody). Il a été décidé (nobody, formally).
Et aussi · And also
Notice what each one costs. On hides the decider; the passive hides them more; il a été décidé hides them completely and is the sentence a report writes when nobody wants to sign it.
Attention · Watch out
on a décidé, la décision a été prise, il a été décidé: each hides the decider a little more. Choosing between them is the C2 decision — none of them is neutral.
élire, voix passive — the table
il est élu · elle est élue · ils sont élus · elles sont élues
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with on a décidé.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out élire, voix passive in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.