Passive with Modal-like Verbs: devoir être fait
Passive with Modal-like Verbs: devoir être fait
Combine the passive voice from B1 with devoir or pouvoir, and French stacks three pieces at once — the modal-like verb conjugated, être left in the infinitive, and a past participle that still has to agree with the subject.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
devoir/pouvoir (conjugated) + être (infinitive) + past participle
Le travail doit être fait avant demain. (The work must be done before tomorrow)
The work must be done before tomorrow.
English builds the same layered meaning in a strikingly similar shape — modal + be + past participle: 'must be done'. The real difference shows up under the hood: English modals like 'must' are grammatically frozen (no infinitive 'to must', no -s, no past tense of their own), while devoir is a fully regular-behaving irregular verb that conjugates in every tense — il devra être fait (it will have to be done), il aurait dû être fait (it should have been done). Where English is stuck with 'must' for every tense and has to borrow 'have to' to fill the gaps, French devoir simply conjugates.
The participle agrees with the subject, not with devoir/pouvoir
La lettre doit être envoyée aujourd'hui. (The letter must be sent today — envoyée, feminine, agrees with la lettre)
The letter must be sent today.
Because être — not devoir — is the actual passive auxiliary here, the agreement rule from any ordinary être-passive still applies: match the participle to the grammatical subject (une lettre → envoyée). English has nothing to track here at all — 'sent' stays 'sent' no matter what the subject is — so this is a case where English's total lack of participle agreement can make you forget the French rule still applies even with devoir sitting in front of être.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| doit être fait(e) | dwah eh-truh feh | must be done |
| peut être résolu(e) | puh eh-truh ray-zoh-LU | can be solved |
| doit être envoyé(e) | dwah eh-truh ahn-vwah-YAY | must be sent |
| peut être fait(e) | puh eh-truh feh | can be done |
| doit être terminé(e) | dwah eh-truh ter-mee-NAY | must be finished |
| ne doit pas être oublié(e) | nuh dwah pah zeh-truh oo-blee-AY | must not be forgotten |
| peut être changé(e) | puh eh-truh shahn-ZHAY | can be changed |
| devrait être vérifié(e) | duh-vreh teh-truh vay-ree-fee-AY | should be checked |