S-Passive in Swedish

In Brief

Swedish can make a verb passive by adding -s: De bygger huset (“They are building the house”) becomes Huset byggs (“The house is being built”). The person doing the action is left out when unknown or unimportant, but can be added with av: Huset byggs av ett lokalt företag.

Overview

The passive voice presents an action from the perspective of the person or thing affected by it, rather than the person doing it. Compare active Någon säljer bilen (“Someone is selling the car”) with passive Bilen säljs (“The car is being sold”). In the passive sentence, bilen is the subject—the part of the sentence that the statement is about—even though it does not perform the action.

Swedish has several ways to express passive meaning. The most characteristic is the s-passive (s-passiv), made with an -s ending on the verb. It is common in notices, instructions, news, descriptions of procedures, and neutral or formal writing. It also appears naturally in everyday speech: Var säljs biljetterna? (“Where are the tickets sold?”).

This construction is introduced around B1 because it builds directly on familiar tense forms. English normally needs a form of “be” plus a past participle, as in “was sold.” Swedish often puts both passive meaning and tense on one word: såldes. That compact pattern is the central idea to learn.

How It Works

From an active sentence to an s-passive

An active sentence commonly has three parts:

agent + active verb + object

Företaget bygger huset. — “The company is building the house.”

The agent (the person or thing performing the action) is företaget. The object (the person or thing affected by the action) is huset. To make the sentence passive:

1. Make the object the new subject: Huset ...
2. put the verb in the s-passive: ... byggs
3. omit the agent, or add it after av: ... av företaget

The result is Huset byggs (av företaget). Word order otherwise follows normal Swedish rules. In a main clause beginning with an adverb, the finite verb still comes second: Nu byggs huset (“The house is being built now”).

Present tense

For many verbs, start from the present-tense form, remove its final -r, and add -s. In practice, it is useful to learn the active and passive forms together because the exact result depends on the verb stem.

Infinitive	Active present	S-passive present	English
tala	talar	talas	speak → is spoken
bygga	bygger	byggs	build → is being built
stänga	stänger	stängs	close → is closed
köpa	köper	köps	buy → is bought
sälja	säljer	säljs	sell → is sold
läsa	läser	läses	read → is read
skriva	skriver	skrivs	write → is written

Notice läses. Because the stem already ends in an s-sound, Swedish uses -es rather than producing an awkward double s. Some verbs have spelling or stem changes, so do not treat “replace r with s” as a rule without exceptions.

The Swedish present s-passive can correspond to several English forms:

• Huset byggs nu. — “The house is being built now.”
• Böckerna säljs på nätet. — “The books are sold online.”
• Dörren stängs klockan tio. — “The door closes / is closed at ten.”

Context tells you whether the sentence describes an action in progress, a regular procedure, or a scheduled event.

Infinitive and modal constructions

The passive infinitive is normally the active infinitive plus -s:

Active infinitive	Passive infinitive	In a sentence
bygga	byggas	Huset ska byggas. — The house will be built.
sälja	säljas	Bilen måste säljas. — The car must be sold.
betala	betalas	Avgiften kan betalas online. — The fee can be paid online.
läsa	läsas	Texten bör läsas noggrant. — The text should be read carefully.

After modal verbs such as ska (will/shall), måste (must), kan (can), and bör (should), Swedish uses the infinitive without att. English speakers sometimes insert a form of vara (“be”), but it is not needed: måste betalas, not måste vara betalas.

After verbs that require att, keep it: Rapporten väntas bli klar i maj (“The report is expected to be ready in May”), but Planen är att rapporten ska publiceras i maj (“The plan is for the report to be published in May”).

Past tense

In the past, the s-passive is based on the preterite (the ordinary past-tense form) plus -s. The ending often appears as -des, -tes, or simply -s, depending on the active verb.

Infinitive	Active past	S-passive past	English
tala	talade	talades	was spoken
stänga	stängde	stängdes	was closed
köpa	köpte	köptes	was bought
sälja	sålde	såldes	was sold
skriva	skrev	skrevs	was written
se	såg	sågs	was seen

The passive verb does not change for singular or plural subjects: Bilen såldes and Bilarna såldes use the same form.

Perfect and pluperfect

For completed actions connected to another time, use har or hade plus a passive supine. The supine is the verb form used after har and hade; in the passive it ends in -s.

Time	Swedish	English
Perfect	Huset har byggts.	The house has been built.
Perfect	Alla biljetter har sålts.	All the tickets have been sold.
Pluperfect	Dörren hade stängts.	The door had been closed.
Pluperfect	Brevet hade skrivits i april.	The letter had been written in April.

Do not add varit merely because English uses “been.” Swedish har byggts already means “has been built.”

Naming the agent with av

The agent can be included in an av-phrase:

Romanen skrevs av Selma Lagerlöf. — “The novel was written by Selma Lagerlöf.”

Use this when the performer matters. If the agent is the main point of the message, however, an active sentence is often clearer: Selma Lagerlöf skrev romanen. Swedish frequently chooses the passive precisely because the agent is unknown, obvious, general, or irrelevant.

Examples in Context

Swedish	English	Note
Huset byggs nu.	The house is being built now.	Present action in progress
Bilen såldes igår.	The car was sold yesterday.	Past s-passive
Dörren stängs kl. 22.	The door closes at 10 p.m.	Scheduled action on a notice
Svenska talas här.	Swedish is spoken here.	General fact; agent omitted
Biljetter säljs vid entrén.	Tickets are sold at the entrance.	Typical sign or information text
Ansökan måste skickas in senast fredag.	The application must be submitted by Friday.	Modal plus passive infinitive
Maten serveras mellan elva och två.	Food is served between eleven and two.	Regular procedure
Mötet ställdes in på grund av snön.	The meeting was cancelled because of the snow.	Particle verb; particle remains after the verb
Alla platser har bokats.	All seats have been booked.	Perfect passive
Bron ska repareras nästa sommar.	The bridge will be repaired next summer.	Future with ska
Romanen skrevs av en svensk författare.	The novel was written by a Swedish author.	Agent expressed with av
Här får cyklar inte parkeras.	Bicycles may not be parked here.	Negative instruction
Det sägs att restaurangen är mycket bra.	It is said that the restaurant is very good.	Impersonal passive report
Hur uttalas det här ordet?	How is this word pronounced?	Everyday question

Common Mistakes

Keeping the active present ending

• Wrong: Huset byggers nu.
• Right: Huset byggs nu.
• Why: Do not simply add -s after the whole active form bygger. The normal passive form is byggs.

Copying the English “be + participle” pattern

• Wrong: Bilen var såldes igår.
• Right: Bilen såldes igår.
• Why: Såldes already carries both past tense and passive meaning. It does not need var.

Using an active infinitive after a modal

• Wrong: Avgiften måste betala idag.
• Right: Avgiften måste betalas idag.
• Why: The fee receives the action, so the infinitive must be passive. The active version would need a person as subject: Du måste betala avgiften idag.

Forgetting normal main-clause word order

• Wrong: Nu huset byggs.
• Right: Nu byggs huset.
• Why: The finite verb remains in second position in a Swedish main clause. Starting with nu places byggs before the subject.

Treating every verb ending in -s as passive

• Wrong interpretation: Jag hoppas = “I am hoped.”
• Right interpretation: Jag hoppas = “I hope.”
• Why: Some Swedish verbs, called deponent verbs, end in -s but have active meaning. Common examples include hoppas (hope), minnas (remember), lyckas (succeed), and andas (breathe).

Adding an unnecessary agent

• Awkward: Biljetter säljs av personalen vid entrén when only the sales location matters.
• More natural: Biljetter säljs vid entrén.
• Why: The s-passive is often chosen to keep the focus on the action or result. Add an av-phrase only when the performer contributes useful information.

Usage Notes

The s-passive is especially frequent where Swedish presents information as neutral and generally applicable: signs, rules, recipes, instructions, product descriptions, reports, academic prose, and news. Förvaras kallt (“Keep refrigerated,” literally “is stored cold”) and Får ej övertäckas (“Must not be covered”) avoid addressing any particular reader.

That does not make every s-passive formal. Questions such as Hur görs det? (“How is it done?”), Var köps biljetterna? (“Where do you buy the tickets?”), and Vad kallas det på svenska? (“What is that called in Swedish?”) are ordinary spoken Swedish. Still, a long series of passive clauses can sound bureaucratic. In conversation, Swedish often uses active man (“people/one/you in general”): Man köper biljetterna i appen instead of Biljetterna köps i appen.

Negation and sentence adverbs take their normal position. In a main clause they usually follow the finite passive verb: Dörren stängs inte automatiskt (“The door does not close automatically”). With a modal, they normally follow the modal: Dörren får inte öppnas (“The door must not be opened”).

Particle verbs keep their particle: ställa in becomes ställs in in the present and ställdes in in the past. The particle is not absorbed into the -s form: Mötet ställs in (“The meeting is cancelled”).

Beyond the Basics: Contrasts and Advanced Use

S-passive, bli-passive, and vara + participle

Swedish passive expressions do not always present an event in the same way. A past participle is an adjective-like verb form such as stängd (“closed”) or skriven (“written”). It appears with bli and vara and changes to agree with the noun in many contexts.

Construction	Typical focus	Example	Natural English
s-passive	Process, general procedure, neutral event	Dörren stängs klockan tio.	The door closes/is closed at ten.
bli + past participle	Event or change, often a particular occurrence	Dörren blev stängd av vakten.	The door was closed by the guard.
vara + past participle	Resulting state	Dörren är stängd.	The door is closed.

These are tendencies, not one-to-one translation formulas. The s-passive is often the unmarked choice for procedures and factual reporting. The bli-passive makes the event or change more prominent, while vara usually tells you the resulting condition.

Reciprocal meaning

Some -s forms express a reciprocal action—people doing something to each other—rather than an ordinary passive:

• Vi ses imorgon. — “See you tomorrow / We’ll see each other tomorrow.”
• De träffades på stationen. — “They met at the station.”
• Vi hörs nästa vecka. — “We’ll speak next week.”

Historically and grammatically these forms are related to s-forms, but learners should store frequent expressions such as vi ses and vi hörs as complete phrases. There is no omitted agent in the ordinary passive sense.

Impersonal reporting

The pattern det + s-passive + att-clause is common in news and formal statements:

Det sägs att priserna kommer att stiga. — “It is said that prices will rise.”

Det rekommenderas att boka i förväg. — “Booking in advance is recommended.”

Here det is a placeholder subject; it does not refer to a particular thing. This pattern allows the writer to report a view or recommendation without naming its source. Because that can hide responsibility, clear writing sometimes benefits from naming who says or recommends something.

Meaning can be ambiguous without context

A present s-passive does not by itself distinguish an ongoing event from a habit. Vägen repareras may mean “The road is being repaired” or, in the right context, “The road is repaired [regularly].” Time expressions such as just nu, varje vår, and nästa vecka usually make the intended reading clear.

Practice Tips

1. Transform short active sentences. Start with Företaget bygger bron, Någon öppnade brevet, and De har sålt huset. Move the object first, change the verb, and then decide whether the agent is worth keeping.
2. Collect passive forms by tense. For each new verb, write a four-part set such as bygga – byggs – byggdes – har byggts. This is more reliable than attaching -s mechanically to any form.
3. Read real notices and instructions. Look for forms such as säljs, serveras, förvaras, får inte användas, and måste bokas. Ask why the writer chose not to name the person performing the action.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense (Verb Groups) — provides the active verb forms from which many present s-passives are built.
• Closely related: Deponent Verbs — explains verbs that end in -s but have active meaning.
• Closely related: Impersonal Constructions — compares passive patterns with man and placeholder det.
• Next step: Bli-Passive — contrasts the compact s-passive with bli plus a past participle.
• Advanced connection: Formal Written Style — examines how passive constructions contribute to neutral and institutional prose.