Passive Voice in Dutch

In Brief

Dutch forms the passive with worden for an action or process and zijn for a completed result or state, followed by a past participle: Het huis wordt gebouwd (“The house is being built”) but Het huis is gebouwd (“The house has been built”). If the person or thing responsible matters, introduce it with door (“by”); if nobody needs to be named, Dutch can use impersonal er: Er wordt hier gewerkt (“People work here”).

Overview

The passive voice, de lijdende vorm, presents an event from the perspective of the person or thing affected by it. Compare active De monteur repareert de fiets (“The mechanic repairs the bicycle”) with passive De fiets wordt gerepareerd (“The bicycle is being repaired”). In the passive sentence, de fiets has become the subject (the person or thing that the sentence is grammatically built around), while the mechanic can be left unmentioned.

At B1, the key task is not merely recognizing the form. You need to choose between worden and zijn, place the voltooid deelwoord (past participle—the form such as gemaakt, gelezen, or verkocht) correctly, and decide whether an agent with door is useful. Passives are common in news reports, workplace communication, descriptions of procedures, notices, and any situation where the action matters more than its performer.

English speakers already know the basic change in viewpoint, but English “be” does several jobs that Dutch divides between worden and zijn. “The door is closed” may describe a present action or a resulting condition in English. Dutch usually makes the distinction explicit: De deur wordt gesloten describes someone closing it, while De deur is gesloten describes it as closed.

How It Works

From an active sentence to a passive sentence

A straightforward active sentence contains an actor, a verb, and a direct object (the person or thing directly affected):

De kok bereidt de maaltijd. — “The cook prepares the meal.”

To make it passive:

1. Make the direct object the new subject: de maaltijd.
2. Choose the correct tense of worden or zijn.
3. change the main verb to its past participle: bereid.
4. Omit the original actor, or add it after door.

The result is De maaltijd wordt (door de kok) bereid. The phrase in parentheses is optional because a passive often deliberately leaves the actor out.

Meaning	Pattern	Example
Ongoing or habitual action	subject + form of worden + other elements + participle	De maaltijd wordt elke avond bereid.
Past action in progress or viewed as an event	subject + werd/werden + other elements + participle	De maaltijd werd om zes uur bereid.
Completed result or resulting state	subject + form of zijn + other elements + participle	De maaltijd is al bereid.
Named agent	passive clause + door + agent	De maaltijd wordt door de kok bereid.

The finite verb—the verb carrying tense and agreeing with the subject—follows ordinary Dutch rules. In a main statement it normally occupies the second position, while the participle tends to stand near the end:

Vandaag wordt de bestelling zorgvuldig gecontroleerd.

Starting with vandaag causes inversion, just as in an active Dutch sentence. The subject therefore follows wordt.

Choosing between worden and zijn

Use worden when you present something as happening, recurring, planned, or unfolding:

• De ramen worden gewassen. — The windows are being washed.
• De facturen worden elke vrijdag betaald. — The invoices are paid every Friday.
• De uitslag wordt morgen bekendgemaakt. — The result will be announced tomorrow.

Use zijn when the event is complete or you are describing its result:

• De ramen zijn gewassen. — The windows have been washed.
• De factuur is betaald. — The invoice has been paid.
• Alle plaatsen zijn gereserveerd. — All seats are reserved.

This contrast is more useful than translating English “is/are” word for word. Ask yourself: Am I showing the action, or its completed outcome? For an action, choose worden; for the outcome, choose zijn.

Agreement and tense

The auxiliary agrees with the passive subject. The past participle itself does not change for number or gender.

Subject	Present process	Past process	Present completed result
de brief (singular)	wordt geschreven	werd geschreven	is geschreven
de brieven (plural)	worden geschreven	werden geschreven	zijn geschreven

Dutch often uses a present passive with a future time phrase where English naturally uses “will be”:

Het pakket wordt morgen bezorgd. — “The package will be delivered tomorrow.”

The time word morgen supplies the future meaning; a separate future auxiliary is not required.

The agent with door

The agent is whoever or whatever performs the action. Introduce it with door:

Het voorstel werd door de directie goedgekeurd. — “The proposal was approved by management.”

Include the agent when it adds important information or a useful contrast. Do not add it automatically. Mijn telefoon is gestolen is normally more natural than Mijn telefoon is door iemand gestolen, because “by someone” tells the listener nothing.

Impersonal passive with er

Dutch can make passive sentences from many verbs that have no direct object. In that case there is no object to turn into a subject, so the sentence uses er as a grammatical placeholder:

• Er wordt buiten gewacht. — People are waiting outside.
• Er werd de hele avond gedanst. — There was dancing all evening.
• Er wordt hier niet gerookt. — No smoking here / People do not smoke here.

This pattern focuses entirely on the activity. English often prefers “people,” “they,” an -ing expression, or a notice-style translation rather than a literal passive.

Questions, negation, and subordinate clauses

The passive does not create a special question pattern. Move the finite auxiliary before the subject:

Wordt de vergadering opgenomen? — “Is the meeting being recorded?”

Negation and other adverbs usually appear before the final participle:

De gegevens worden niet automatisch verwijderd. — “The data are not deleted automatically.”

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

Ik weet dat de gegevens automatisch worden verwijderd. — “I know that the data are deleted automatically.”

You may also encounter dat de gegevens automatisch verwijderd worden. Both orders occur; for now, learn to recognize both rather than treating one as a different meaning.

Examples in Context

Dutch	English	Note
Het huis wordt gebouwd.	The house is being built.	Present process with worden
De brief is geschreven.	The letter has been written.	Completed result with zijn
Hij werd door de politie gearresteerd.	He was arrested by the police.	Past process; agent with door
Er wordt veel gepraat.	There is a lot of talking.	Impersonal passive
De winkel wordt om negen uur geopend.	The shop is opened at nine.	Regular or scheduled action
De winkel is al geopend.	The shop has already been opened / is already open.	Resulting state
Deze kaas wordt in Nederland gemaakt.	This cheese is made in the Netherlands.	General production process
De reserveringen worden per e-mail bevestigd.	The reservations are confirmed by email.	Plural subject
Mijn fiets werd gisteren gestolen.	My bicycle was stolen yesterday.	Unknown agent omitted
Het probleem is nog niet opgelost.	The problem has not been solved yet.	Negative completed result
Worden de documenten vandaag verstuurd?	Will the documents be sent today?	Passive question
Morgen wordt de nieuwe regeling bekendgemaakt.	The new policy will be announced tomorrow.	Time phrase first; inversion
Ik denk dat de weg volgende week wordt afgesloten.	I think the road will be closed next week.	Passive in a subordinate clause
Er werd na de wedstrijd luid gezongen.	People sang loudly after the match.	Impersonal past passive
De auto moet vóór vrijdag gerepareerd worden.	The car must be repaired before Friday.	Passive with a modal verb

Common Mistakes

Using zijn for every English passive

• Wrong: De post is elke ochtend bezorgd. (for a daily routine)
• Right: De post wordt elke ochtend bezorgd.
• Why: A repeated action takes worden. Is bezorgd normally presents the delivery as complete: “has been delivered.”

Leaving the main verb as an infinitive

• Wrong: Het rapport wordt schrijven.
• Right: Het rapport wordt geschreven.
• Why: The passive requires a past participle, not the infinitive (the dictionary form, here schrijven).

Making the auxiliary agree with the old actor

• Wrong: De brieven wordt door de assistent verstuurd.
• Right: De brieven worden door de assistent verstuurd.
• Why: De brieven is the new plural subject, so the auxiliary must be plural. The singular agent de assistent does not control agreement.

Keeping the participle next to the auxiliary in a main clause

• Wrong: De bestelling wordt gecontroleerd vandaag.
• Right: De bestelling wordt vandaag gecontroleerd.
• Why: In a neutral main clause, time, manner, and similar information normally comes inside the verbal frame, before the final participle.

Adding door iemand without a reason

• Less natural: De ruit werd door iemand gebroken.
• More natural: De ruit werd gebroken.
• Why: Use a door phrase when the identity or type of agent is informative. If the agent is unknown and unimportant, omission is one of the main reasons to choose the passive.

Forgetting er in an impersonal passive

• Wrong: Wordt hier veel gelachen. (as a statement)
• Right: Er wordt hier veel gelachen.
• Why: With no ordinary subject, a statement normally needs introductory er. Without it, the word order looks like a question.

Usage Notes

The Dutch passive is particularly useful when the actor is unknown (Mijn tas is gestolen), obvious (De verdachte werd gearresteerd), deliberately withheld, or less important than the process. Instructions and formal texts use it to focus on procedures: Het formulier wordt binnen vijf werkdagen verwerkt (“The form is processed within five working days”).

However, Dutch does not require a passive whenever English uses one. Everyday Dutch often sounds livelier with an active sentence using men (“one/people,” somewhat formal), ze (“they,” informal and nonspecific), or an identified actor. Compare Er wordt gezegd dat… with conversational Ze zeggen dat…; both can mean “They say that…,” but the first is more detached.

A past participle after zijn may function much like an adjective. De deur is gesloten can mean that someone has closed the door or simply that the door is in a closed state. Context usually resolves this, and the distinction does not always matter. If you need to emphasize an action unfolding, use worden: De deur wordt nu gesloten.

Be careful with worden outside the passive. It can also be a full verb meaning “to become”: Het wordt koud (“It is getting cold”) and Zij wordt arts (“She is becoming a doctor”). A genuine passive has a past participle describing an action done to the subject.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Perfect passive and omitted geworden

The logically complete perfect of a worden passive contains geworden:

Het huis is gebouwd geworden.

In modern Dutch, geworden is normally omitted in this construction, leaving:

Het huis is gebouwd.

That shorter form can report a completed event (“The house was/has been built”) or describe the resulting state (“The house is built”). This explains why zijn + participle covers more than a simple one-to-one translation might suggest. You should recognize the full form, but usually imitate the common shorter form.

Passive with modal verbs

With a modal such as moeten, kunnen, or mogen, use the infinitive worden at the end:

• Het contract moet vandaag ondertekend worden. — The contract must be signed today.
• Deze fout kan gemakkelijk vermeden worden. — This error can easily be avoided.
• Hier mag niet geparkeerd worden. — Parking is not allowed here.

These structures become longer because the modal is the finite verb, the action remains a participle, and worden appears as the passive infinitive. They are common in rules, advice, and formal writing.

Alternatives with krijgen

Advanced Dutch also has a so-called krijgen-passive, which presents a recipient as the subject:

Zij kreeg een prijs uitgereikt. — “She was presented with an award.”

The ordinary worden-passive typically promotes a direct object: Een prijs werd aan haar uitgereikt. The krijgen construction instead highlights the recipient. It is useful to recognize, but it belongs to a broader treatment of the Dutch passive and should not replace the core worden/zijn pattern at B1.

Style and information flow

Active and passive forms are not merely interchangeable grammar exercises. They organize information differently. Dutch often places familiar information early and new information later. If a paragraph is already about a bridge, De brug werd in 1932 gebouwd door een lokaal bedrijf keeps the bridge as the topic. If the paragraph is about the company, Een lokaal bedrijf bouwde de brug in 1932 is clearer and more direct.

Heavy use of passives can make prose distant or bureaucratic, especially when responsibility matters. Er zijn fouten gemaakt (“Mistakes were made”) avoids saying who made them. Good writers therefore choose the passive for a clear communicative reason, not simply because it sounds formal.

Practice Tips

1. Transform sentences in pairs. Start with five active sentences, underline each direct object, and turn it into the passive subject: De bezorger brengt het pakket → Het pakket wordt gebracht. Then add or omit the door phrase deliberately.
2. Train the process–result contrast. Describe the same event twice: De kamer wordt schoongemaakt while cleaning is underway, then De kamer is schoongemaakt when it is finished. Visual pairs make the choice between worden and zijn easier to remember.
3. Collect real examples by function. While reading Dutch news or notices, label each passive “unknown actor,” “procedure,” “result,” or “impersonal.” Also rewrite some as active sentences to see why the writer chose the passive viewpoint.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Zijn (to be) — supplies the forms used for completed results and states.
• Next steps: Extended Passive — develops passive constructions across more tenses, with modal verbs and impersonal patterns.