<p>Voice is one of the five inflections involved in conjugating French verbs. It indicates the relationship between the subject and verb. There are three voices in French.</p><h3>Three Voices in French</h3><table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td><h3>Active voice</h3></td><td colspan="2">The <strong> subject</strong> performs the action of the verb. This is the most common voice because it is the most straightforward, a simple subject-verb structure.</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><em>Je lave la voiture.</em></td><td>I&#39;m washing the car.</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><em>Il a cassé les assiettes.</em></td><td>He broke the plates.</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><em>Elle est prof de français.</em></td><td>She&#39;s a French teacher.</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"> </td></tr><tr><td><h3><a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/french-passive-voice-1368895" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="1">Passive voice</a></h3></td><td colspan="2">The action of the verb is performed <strong> on the subject by an agent</strong>. The agent is usually introduced by the prepositions <em>par</em> or <em>de</em>. It has a slightly literary ring in French and is used much less frequently than the active voice.</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><em>La voiture est lavée.</em></td><td>The car is (being) washed.</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><em>Les assiettes ont été cassées par le chien.</em></td><td>The plates were broken by the dog.</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><em>Toutes les chemises ont été vendues.</em></td><td>All of the shirts were sold.</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"> </td></tr><tr><td><h3><a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/french-pronominal-and-pronominal-verbs-1368926" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="2">Pronominal voice</a> </h3></td><td colspan="2">The subject performs the action <strong>on itself</strong>. This voice is quite common in French, much less so in English. Pronominal verbs can be reflexive, reciprocal or simply part of idiomatic expressions.</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><em>Je me lave.</em></td><td>I&#39;m washing up.</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><em>Il s&#39;est cassé la jambe.</em></td><td>He broke his leg.</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><em>Je n&#39;aime pas me regarder dans la glace.</em></td><td>I don&#39;t like to look at myself in the mirror.</td></tr></tbody></table><h3>Additional Resources</h3><p><a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/french-passive-voice-1368895" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="3">Passive voice</a><br/><a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/french-pronominal-and-pronominal-verbs-1368926" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="4">Pronomial verbs and voice</a></p>