I thought and had the same meaning and are both passive voice constructions. This comes up in a question asking for an active voice sentence to be turned into a passive. I used which sounds better to me than . So, are reflexive constructions passive voice or not? I was taught, like 50 years ago, that they were. C'est un peu tatillon, mais j'ai envie de savoir.
Reflexive verbs are not passive voice?
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Max K.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Reflexive verbs are not passive voice?
This question relates to:French lesson "Forming La Voix Passive with simple tenses in French (French Passive Voice)"
Asked 1 year ago
Hi Max,
This is a very broad topic so I will try and condense it.
Reflexive verbs are used in 4 different ways:
1. Quite a lot of verbs are just reflexive like se souvenir ( to remember), s'enfuir ( to flee), se dépêcher ( to hurry), se passer ( to happen) etc.
2. Some have a true reflexive meaning
Elle se regarde dans la glace = She is looking at herself in the mirror
Il se rase tous les matins à 7h = He shaves (himself) every morning at 7 am
3. Some have a reciprocal meaning -
Les enfants se disputent sans cesse = The children argue all the time
Ils se jettent des boules de neige = They throw snow balls at each other
elles se parlent au téléphone tous les jours = They speak to each other on the phone every day
4. Some convey a passive like -
Les ventilateurs se vendent très bien en ce moment = Fans are selling very well at the moment
Ça ne se fait pas = That's not done ( people don't do that )
Le café se boit très chaud = Coffee is drunk very hot
Cette maison s'est vendue très rapidement = This house (was) sold very quickly
Certaines langues se lisent de droite à gauche = Certain languages are read from the right to the left
Cette porte s'ouvre difficilement = This door is hard to open
Hope this helps!
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