Stative Passive (sein-Passive) in German

In Brief

The German stative passive (Zustandspassiv) uses a form of sein + Partizip II to describe the state left by a completed action: Die Tür ist geschlossen means “The door is closed.” By contrast, werden + Partizip II presents the action or change itself: Die Tür wird geschlossen means “The door is being closed.”

Overview

The Zustandspassiv, often called the sein-passive, lets you focus on a result rather than on the action that produced it. In Das Fenster ist geöffnet, someone has opened the window, but the sentence tells you about its current condition: it is open. The person responsible is normally irrelevant or already known.

This B2 structure builds directly on the ordinary present passive with werden. The key difference is viewpoint. The process passive (Vorgangspassiv) shows something happening; the stative passive shows the condition that exists after it has happened. That distinction matters in descriptions of rooms, preparations, rules, completed work, and practical situations: Ist das Formular unterschrieben? asks whether the required result has been achieved.

English often uses “be + past participle” for both meanings, so the English form does not always tell you which German construction to choose. “The shop is closed” usually describes a state and corresponds to Das Geschäft ist geschlossen. “The shop is closed at six” may mean that someone closes it at six; German then normally uses Das Geschäft wird um sechs geschlossen.

How It Works

The basic pattern

The structure consists of two parts:

subject + conjugated form of sein + Partizip II

A subject is the person or thing the sentence is about. The Partizip II (past participle) is the verb form used in expressions such as gemacht, geöffnet, geschrieben, and repariert.

Position	Element	Example
Subject	the thing in the resulting state	Die Tür
Finite verb	a form of sein	ist
Final verb form	Partizip II	geschlossen
Complete sentence	—	Die Tür ist geschlossen.

Only sein changes for person and tense. The participle does not change when it appears after sein: Das Fenster ist geöffnet and Die Fenster sind geöffnet. Unlike an adjective placed before a noun, this predicative participle has no adjective ending.

Forms in the main tenses

The stative passive can occur in several tenses. The tense belongs to sein; the participle remains the same.

Tense	Pattern	Example	Meaning
Present	present of sein + Partizip II	Die Tür ist geschlossen.	The door is closed.
Simple past	war/waren + Partizip II	Die Tür war geschlossen.	The door was closed.
Perfect	ist/sind gewesen + Partizip II	Die Tür ist geschlossen gewesen.	The door has been/was closed.
Pluperfect	war/waren gewesen + Partizip II	Die Tür war geschlossen gewesen.	The door had been closed.
Future	wird/werden + Partizip II + sein	Die Tür wird geschlossen sein.	The door will be closed.

The present and simple past are by far the most useful forms. Perfect and pluperfect stative passives are grammatical but can sound heavy; German often chooses the simple past or rewrites the sentence. The future form can also express a confident assumption: Die Tür wird schon geschlossen sein can mean “The door will probably be closed already.”

Stative passive versus process passive

Compare the same event from three angles:

Viewpoint	German	What it highlights
Active	Mia öffnet das Fenster.	Mia performs the action.
Process passive	Das Fenster wird geöffnet.	The opening is taking place.
Stative passive	Das Fenster ist geöffnet.	The resulting open state exists.

A useful mental timeline is:

action: Das Fenster wird geöffnet. → result: Das Fenster ist geöffnet.

This is a meaning contrast, not merely a tense contrast. Both examples can refer to the present. The first presents a dynamic process; the second presents a state.

Questions often make the difference especially clear:

• Wird der Bericht geschrieben? — Is the report being written? Is the work happening?
• Ist der Bericht geschrieben? — Is the report written? Is it finished?

Word order

In a main clause, the conjugated form of sein occupies the usual second position, and the participle normally comes near the end:

• Der Raum ist für die Feier bereits dekoriert.
• Morgen wird alles vorbereitet sein.

In a subordinate clause (a dependent clause introduced by a word such as weil or wenn), the verb group moves to the end:

• Wir können anfangen, weil alles vorbereitet ist.
• Ruf mich an, wenn der Vertrag unterschrieben ist.

With a modal verb, the modal is conjugated and the stative construction appears as Partizip II + sein at the end:

• Die Medikamente müssen kühl gelagert sein. — The medicines must be stored in a cool place.
• Der Notausgang darf nicht blockiert sein. — The emergency exit must not be blocked.

Here the statement concerns a required or permitted state, not necessarily an action currently taking place.

Which verbs can form it?

The clearest stative passives come from transitive verbs—verbs whose action affects a direct object (the person or thing directly acted on). In the active sentence Jemand repariert die Maschine, die Maschine is the direct object. It becomes the subject of Die Maschine ist repariert.

The verb also needs to produce a meaningful result. Verbs such as öffnen, schließen, reparieren, unterschreiben, reservieren, kochen, and vorbereiten work naturally because their actions can leave something in a recognizable condition.

Not every passive process creates such a state. Es wird getanzt (“There is dancing”) is possible, but *Es ist getanzt is not a normal stative passive. Similarly, some participles after sein belong to an active perfect tense rather than a passive construction: Der Zug ist angekommen means “The train has arrived.” Because ankommen forms its perfect with sein and has no direct object, angekommen is not a stative passive here.

Examples in Context

German	English	Note
Die Tür ist geschlossen.	The door is closed.	Present result or condition
Das Essen ist gekocht.	The food is cooked.	The cooking is complete
Der Brief war schon geschrieben.	The letter was already written.	State at a past reference point
Alle Plätze sind reserviert.	All the seats are reserved.	Common in practical information
Die Rechnung ist noch nicht bezahlt.	The bill has not been paid yet.	Missing result, marked by noch nicht
Ist der Computer wieder angeschlossen?	Is the computer connected again?	Checks whether a result has been achieved
Als wir ankamen, war der Tisch bereits gedeckt.	When we arrived, the table was already set.	Past state after preparation
Wir können beginnen, sobald der Raum vorbereitet ist.	We can begin as soon as the room is ready.	Stative passive in a subordinate clause
Die Daten müssen verschlüsselt sein.	The data must be encrypted.	Modal verb plus required state
Der Eingang darf während der Veranstaltung nicht blockiert sein.	The entrance must not be blocked during the event.	dürfen nicht prohibits a state
Bis Freitag wird der Bericht fertiggestellt sein.	The report will have been completed by Friday.	Future resulting state
Die Straße war durch einen umgestürzten Baum versperrt.	The road was blocked by a fallen tree.	durch gives the cause
Das Museum ist montags geschlossen.	The museum is closed on Mondays.	Regular institutional state or schedule
Sind die Fenster abgeschlossen oder nur geschlossen?	Are the windows locked or just closed?	Contrasts two resulting states

Common Mistakes

Using werden when you mean the finished result

• Wrong for the intended meaning: Das Essen wird gekocht. — when you mean that dinner is ready
• Right: Das Essen ist gekocht.
• Why: wird gekocht says the cooking is in progress or presents the cooking process. ist gekocht says that the cooked state has been reached.

Using sein for an action in progress

• Wrong for the intended meaning: Die Straße ist repariert. — when workers are repairing it now
• Right: Die Straße wird repariert.
• Why: ist repariert normally means the repair is complete. Use the process passive for ongoing work.

Adding worden to the stative passive

• Wrong: Die Tür ist geschlossen worden — if you mean simply “The door is closed”
• Right: Die Tür ist geschlossen.
• Why: ist geschlossen worden is the perfect process passive: “The door was/has been closed.” It reports the completed action. The stative passive has no worden.

Confusing a sein-perfect with a passive

• Wrong analysis: treating Der Zug ist abgefahren as “The train is departed” in the passive
• Right analysis: Der Zug ist abgefahren means “The train has left.”
• Why: Motion and change-of-state verbs such as abfahren, ankommen, and einschlafen often form the active perfect with sein. Ask whether an active sentence could have a direct object that becomes the passive subject. Abfahren has no such object here.

Giving the participle an adjective ending after sein

• Wrong: Die Türen sind geschlossene.
• Right: Die Türen sind geschlossen.
• Why: After sein, the participle is predicative and has no ending. Before a noun, it behaves like an adjective and does take an ending: die geschlossenen Türen.

Translating English “is” mechanically

• Wrong for a scheduled action: Das Geschäft ist um sechs geschlossen. — if you mean “Staff close the shop at six.”
• Right: Das Geschäft wird um sechs geschlossen.
• Why: English “is closed” can describe either a state or a repeated action. Decide whether the German sentence should show the condition or the act of closing. Note that Das Geschäft ist ab sechs geschlossen naturally means “The shop is closed from six onward.”

Usage Notes

The stative passive is common in everyday speech, signs, workplace communication, instructions, and descriptions. Words such as schon, bereits, noch, noch nicht, and wieder occur frequently because speakers often care whether the result has been reached: Ist alles schon gepackt?; Die Datei ist noch nicht gespeichert.

An agent—the person who carried out the action—is uncommon because the construction deliberately places attention on the result. It is possible when relevant: Das Bild ist von einer Fachkraft restauriert. In many contexts, however, naming the agent makes an active sentence more natural: Eine Fachkraft hat das Bild restauriert. A phrase with durch more readily names a cause or means: Die Zufahrt ist durch Schnee blockiert.

English-speaking learners should pay special attention to context. English “The door is closed” aligns neatly with German Die Tür ist geschlossen, but English also uses “be + participle” for events: “The doors are closed by staff at 10 p.m.” German normally makes that process explicit with werden: Die Türen werden um 22 Uhr vom Personal geschlossen.

Some forms can be understood either as a true passive result or as an ordinary adjective. In Er ist interessiert, the word interessiert functions much like the adjective “interested”; in Der Antrag ist genehmigt, the connection to the action genehmigen remains very clear. This is a continuum rather than a problem that always needs a single label. For communication, the essential question is whether the sentence describes a state.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Stative passive and resultative meaning

A stative passive normally suggests an earlier action, but it does not have to report that action directly. Die Tür ist geschlossen presents the current condition; it does not tell us who closed it, when, or even whether the speaker is thinking about a specific closing event. This is why the construction often approaches adjective use.

Context can reveal whether a participle is strongly verbal or strongly adjectival. Modifiers of degree favor an adjective reading: Die Gäste sind sehr interessiert. References to completion or an agent favor a verbal result: Der Antrag ist bereits vom Vorstand genehmigt. The sentence pattern itself may look identical.

Ambiguity in future forms

The sequence werden + Partizip II + sein is not the process passive. It is future werden followed by the stative infinitive:

• Morgen wird die Brücke gesperrt sein. — Tomorrow the bridge will be closed.

Compare:

• Morgen wird die Brücke gesperrt. — Tomorrow the bridge will be closed off.

The first predicts a state; the second announces an action. Depending on context, future werden can also mark probability rather than literal future time: Er wird informiert sein may mean “He is probably informed.”

Avoiding heavy tense stacks

Forms such as Die Tür ist geschlossen gewesen are valid, but native usage often prefers the simpler Die Tür war geschlossen. Likewise, instead of a complex pluperfect stative passive, a writer may choose an active clause or provide a clearer time phrase. Grammatical completeness does not always equal stylistic elegance.

State, event, and repeated routine

A time expression can change the likely interpretation. Compare:

• Die Bibliothek ist sonntags geschlossen. — It is in a closed state on Sundays; this is its schedule.
• Die Bibliothek wird sonntags um 18 Uhr geschlossen. — The closing action happens at 6 p.m. on Sundays.
• Die Bibliothek wurde wegen des Sturms geschlossen. — It was closed because of the storm; this reports an event.
• Die Bibliothek war wegen des Sturms geschlossen. — It was closed because of the storm; this describes the resulting situation.

This contrast is especially useful in news reports: wurde gesperrt tells readers what authorities did, while war gesperrt describes the condition during a period of time.

Practice Tips

1. Build event–result pairs. Take five verbs and write two sentences for each: Die Techniker reparieren die Anlage → Die Anlage wird repariert → Die Anlage ist repariert. This trains you to separate actor, process, and result.
2. Ask “action or condition?” When translating English “be + past participle,” do not choose automatically. Picture the scene: are you watching something happen, or observing the state afterward? Then choose werden or sein.
3. Practice with checkpoints. Use questions common in real life: Ist der Koffer gepackt? Ist die Rechnung bezahlt? Sind alle informiert? Answer with schon, noch nicht, or bereits to make the result meaning memorable.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Passive Voice (Present) — introduces werden + Partizip II and the process viewpoint that the stative passive contrasts with.