Editing French language (section)

==== Voice ====
French uses both the [[active voice]] and the [[passive voice]]. The active voice is unmarked while the passive voice is formed by using a form of verb ''{{lang|fr|être}}'' ("to be") and the past participle.

Example of the active voice:
* "{{lang|fr|Elle aime le chien.}}" She loves the dog.
* "{{lang|fr|Marc a conduit la voiture.}}" Marc drove the car.
Example of the passive voice:
* "{{lang|fr|Le chien est aimé par elle.}}" The dog is loved by her.
* "{{lang|fr|La voiture a été conduite par Marc.}}" The car was driven by Marc.
However, unless the subject of the sentence is specified, generally the pronoun ''on'' "one" is used:
* "{{lang|fr|On aime le chien.}}" The dog is loved. (Literally "one loves the dog.")
* "{{lang|fr|On conduit la voiture.}}" The car is (being) driven. (Literally "one drives the car.")

Word order is [[subject–verb–object]] although a pronoun object precedes the verb. Some types of sentences allow for or require different word orders, in particular [[inversion (linguistics)|inversion]] of the subject and verb, as in "{{lang|fr|Parlez-vous français&nbsp;?}}" when asking a question rather than "{{lang|fr|Vous parlez français&nbsp;?}}" Both formulations are used, and carry a rising inflection on the last word. The literal English translations are "Do you speak French?" and "You speak French?", respectively. To avoid inversion while asking a question, "{{lang|fr|Est-ce que}}" (literally "is it that") may be placed at the beginning of the sentence. "{{lang|fr|Parlez-vous français&nbsp;?}}" may become "{{lang|fr|Est-ce que vous parlez français&nbsp;?}}" French also uses [[verb–object–subject]] (VOS) and [[object–subject–verb]] (OSV) word order. OSV word order is not used often and VOS is reserved for formal writings.<ref name="Lahousse_2012" />