Passive Voice in Polish

In Brief

Polish forms the true passive with być (“to be”) or zostać (“to become/get”) plus a passive participle that agrees with the subject: List został napisany (“The letter was written”). However, Polish often avoids a passive where English uses one. When the doer is unknown or unimportant, -no/-to forms (Zrobiono to) or an impersonal się construction (Tu się mówi po polsku) are frequently more natural.

Overview

The passive voice presents an action from the perspective of the person or thing affected by it. Compare active Anna napisała list (“Anna wrote the letter”) with passive List został napisany przez Annę (“The letter was written by Anna”). In the active sentence, Anna is the subject (the person or thing that the sentence is built around). In the passive sentence, list becomes the subject, while the doer can be added or left out.

At B1, the essential pattern is an auxiliary verb—usually być or zostać—plus an adjectival passive participle (a verb-based form behaving like an adjective), such as napisany, zrobiony or zamknięty. Because it behaves like an adjective, this participle changes to match the subject’s gender, number and case.

There is an important difference from English. English freely uses passives in ordinary conversation: “I was told,” “it was done,” “Polish is spoken here.” Polish has a grammatical passive too, but often chooses an active sentence, a past impersonal form in -no/-to, or a construction with się. Learning Polish passive voice therefore means learning not just how to form it, but how to choose among several natural alternatives.

How It Works

The core pattern

The standard passive has three possible parts:

affected subject + być/zostać + passive participle (+ przez + doer)

• Most jest remontowany. — “The bridge is being renovated.”
• Most został wyremontowany. — “The bridge was renovated.”
• Most został wyremontowany przez firmę. — “The bridge was renovated by a company.”

The active verb must normally be transitive, meaning that it can take a direct object (the person or thing directly affected): budować dom (“build a house”), napisać list (“write a letter”). That object becomes the grammatical subject of the passive.

Choosing być or zostać

Polish pattern	Typical meaning	Main focus
być + imperfective participle	be in the process of being done	ongoing or repeated action
być + perfective participle	be in a resulting state	existing result or condition
zostać + perfective participle	get/be done	completed event or change

Być is the neutral auxiliary for a state or an ongoing passive process:

• Dom jest budowany. — “The house is being built.”
• Sklep był zamknięty. — “The shop was closed.”
• Raport będzie sprawdzany co tydzień. — “The report will be checked every week.”

Zostać presents the passive as an event or a change, especially a completed one:

• Dom został zbudowany w 2010 roku. — “The house was built in 2010.”
• Drzwi zostały zamknięte o ósmej. — “The door was closed at eight.”
• Wyniki zostaną ogłoszone jutro. — “The results will be announced tomorrow.”

This is closely connected with Polish aspect: an imperfective verb views an action as ongoing, repeated or without emphasis on completion, while a perfective verb views it as a complete whole. Compare budowany from imperfective budować with zbudowany from perfective zbudować. The auxiliary reinforces the contrast, but context and verb aspect work together; it is not a mechanical one-to-one translation of English “is” versus “was.”

Participle agreement

The participle agrees with the passive subject just like an adjective. The auxiliary also agrees in forms where Polish verbs show gender or number.

Subject	Passive form	English
list (masculine singular)	List został napisany.	The letter was written.
umowa (feminine singular)	Umowa została podpisana.	The contract was signed.
okno (neuter singular)	Okno zostało otwarte.	The window was opened.
listy (non-masculine-personal plural)	Listy zostały wysłane.	The letters were sent.
pracownicy (masculine-personal plural)	Pracownicy zostali poinformowani.	The employees were informed.

The most visible dictionary-like endings are -ny, -ony and -ty, but stems often change:

• napisać → napisany (“write → written”)
• zrobić → zrobiony (“do → done”)
• otworzyć → otwarty (“open → opened”)
• zamknąć → zamknięty (“close → closed”)

These are useful patterns, not a complete recipe. Learn a common verb together with its participle, especially when the stem changes.

Naming the doer: przez + accusative

If the doer matters, add przez followed by the accusative case (the form commonly used for a direct object):

• Książka została napisana przez Olgę Tokarczuk. — “The book was written by Olga Tokarczuk.”
• Projekt jest finansowany przez miasto. — “The project is funded by the city.”

Do not copy English by with Polish od. In a normal action passive, the agent is introduced by przez. Yet Polish often sounds better in the active when the doer is central: Olga Tokarczuk napisała książkę.

Impersonal past forms in -no/-to

Polish can describe a past action without naming any subject by using -no or -to:

• Zrobiono to wczoraj. — “It was done yesterday.”
• Otwarto nowe muzeum. — “A new museum was opened.”
• Powiedziano mi, że spotkanie odwołano. — “I was told that the meeting had been cancelled.”

These forms are impersonal: there is no grammatical subject, although an unspecified human doer is understood. They do not change for gender or number. Importantly, the thing affected remains an object and keeps the accusative case. That is why nowe muzeum has the same form as an accusative object here; with masculine animate nouns the difference is clearer: Zaproszono nowego lekarza (“A new doctor was invited”), not nominative nowy lekarz.

The ending depends on the verb’s participial pattern: zrobić → zrobiono, napisać → napisano, zamknąć → zamknięto, odkryć → odkryto. Both perfective and imperfective verbs can occur: Codziennie sprawdzano dokumenty (“The documents were checked every day”). Although English often translates these forms with a passive, Polish is not using the ordinary być/zostać + participle structure.

Impersonal się constructions

For general, habitual or present-time statements, Polish often uses się with a third-person verb:

• Tu się mówi po polsku. — “Polish is spoken here.”
• W Polsce pije się dużo herbaty. — “A lot of tea is drunk in Poland.”
• Jak się to robi? — “How is this done?” / “How do you do this?”

This construction backgrounds the doer and often means “people,” “one,” or generic English “you.” It is especially natural for customs, instructions and general truths. The affected noun commonly remains an object rather than becoming a passive subject: Pije się kawę uses accusative kawę.

Examples in Context

Polish	English	Note
List został napisany.	The letter was written.	Completed event with zostać
Dom jest budowany.	The house is being built.	Ongoing process with być
Te dokumenty są sprawdzane codziennie.	These documents are checked every day.	Repeated action
Okno było otwarte przez całą noc.	The window was open all night.	Resulting state; przez here means “for,” not an agent
Wiadomość została wysłana przez kierownika.	The message was sent by the manager.	Explicit agent
Wyniki zostaną ogłoszone w poniedziałek.	The results will be announced on Monday.	Future completed event
Pracownicy zostali poinformowani o zmianie.	The employees were informed about the change.	Masculine-personal plural agreement
Zrobiono to wczoraj.	It was done yesterday.	Impersonal -no form
W zeszłym roku otwarto dwie nowe szkoły.	Two new schools were opened last year.	No named doer
Nie powiedziano nam całej prawdy.	We were not told the whole truth.	Polish focuses on the action, not “we”
W tym biurze używa się języka polskiego.	Polish is used in this office.	General się construction
Tu się mówi po polsku.	Polish is spoken here.	Idiomatic sign or general statement
Jak przygotowuje się to danie?	How is this dish prepared?	Process or instructions
Mój rower został skradziony.	My bicycle was stolen.	Natural passive when the affected item matters

Common Mistakes

Making the participle agree with the doer

• Wrong: Umowa został podpisany przez dyrektora.
• Right: Umowa została podpisana przez dyrektora.
• Why: The auxiliary and participle agree with umowa, the feminine passive subject—not with dyrektor.

Using być when a completed event is meant

• Awkward for the event: Raport był napisany wczoraj.
• Natural: Raport został napisany wczoraj.
• Why: Był napisany most readily describes the report’s state (“was already written”). A dated act of completing it is normally został napisany.

Treating -no/-to as an agreeing passive

• Wrong: Nowa szkoła otwarto w maju.
• Right: Nową szkołę otwarto w maju.
• Also right: Nowa szkoła została otwarta w maju.
• Why: Otwarto has no subject, so “school” remains an accusative object. In the true passive, it is nominative and controls agreement.

Translating every English passive literally

• Possible but heavy: Zostałem poinformowany, że pociąg jest opóźniony.
• Often more natural: Powiedziano mi, że pociąg jest opóźniony.
• Why: English regularly makes the recipient the passive subject (“I was told”). Polish often uses -no/-to and puts the recipient in the dative: mi (“to me”).

Using od for an agent

• Wrong: Obraz został namalowany od artysty.
• Right: Obraz został namalowany przez artystę.
• Why: An action’s doer is normally introduced by przez + accusative. Od has other meanings, including “from.”

Forgetting aspect

• Mismatch: Most został budowany w dwa miesiące.
• Natural: Most został zbudowany w dwa miesiące.
• Why: A bounded period meaning “completed in two months” calls for perfective zbudować → zbudowany. Imperfective budowany emphasizes the process instead.

Usage Notes

The full passive is common in news, reports, academic writing, notices and official communication because those styles often foreground procedures and results: Wniosek został odrzucony (“The application was rejected”). It is also perfectly normal in conversation when the affected person or object is the natural topic, as in Mój telefon został skradziony.

Still, a long chain of passives can sound bureaucratic. If the doer is known and relevant, Polish usually prefers a direct active sentence. Compare the formal Decyzja została podjęta przez komisję with the simpler Komisja podjęła decyzję (“The committee made the decision”).

English speakers should be especially alert to recipient passives such as “She was given a key” or “We were shown the room.” Polish normally does not turn that recipient into the subject. Natural options include Dano jej klucz (“They gave her/a key was given to her”) and Pokazano nam pokój (“They showed us the room”). The recipient appears in the dative case—the form meaning “to/for someone”—as jej or nam.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

State or action can remain ambiguous

A combination with być and a perfective participle may function much like an adjective and describe a state:

• Drzwi są zamknięte. — “The door is closed.”
• Dokument jest podpisany. — “The document is signed.”

Context decides whether the speaker is concerned with the earlier action or simply the present condition. Zostać makes the event clearer: Drzwi zostały zamknięte o dziewiątej (“The door was closed at nine”).

Not every Polish verb gives a natural passive

A grammatical participle does not guarantee an idiomatic sentence. Intransitive verbs, which have no direct object, cannot normally form this passive: there is no object to promote in verbs such as spać (“sleep”) or iść (“go”). Some transitive verbs also strongly prefer active or impersonal wording in everyday use. Treat the passive as a choice shaped by meaning and style, not as a transformation to apply automatically.

Negation and word order

Negation goes before the auxiliary or impersonal form:

• Umowa nie została podpisana. — “The contract was not signed.”
• Nie podano przyczyny. — “No reason was given.”

Polish word order is flexible. Putting the affected item first makes it the topic; placing new or contrastive information later gives it more emphasis. Przez kogo został napisany ten list? asks “Who was this letter written by?” Although przez kogo can appear first in a question, it still uses the accusative required by przez.

Choosing among three perspectives

Polish	English	Perspective
Komisja odrzuciła wniosek.	The committee rejected the application.	Active: the doer matters
Wniosek został odrzucony przez komisję.	The application was rejected by the committee.	Passive: the application/result matters
Wniosek odrzucono.	The application was rejected.	Impersonal: the action matters; doer omitted

These sentences report much the same event, but they organize information differently. Advanced control of Polish style comes from choosing the version that fits the conversation, rather than merely producing a correct participle.

Practice Tips

1. Build three versions of one event. Start with an active sentence such as Firma wysłała dokumenty. Change it to Dokumenty zostały wysłane przez firmę, then to Wysłano dokumenty. Check what becomes the subject or stays the object.
2. Learn participles in aspect pairs. Record pairs such as pisać—napisać; pisany—napisany and budować—zbudować; budowany—zbudowany. Add one process sentence and one completed-event sentence.
3. Notice real editorial choices. In Polish news or instructions, mark examples of być/zostać + participle, -no/-to and impersonal się. Ask why the writer hid or named the doer.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Past Tense — helps with the past forms of być and zostać and with gender agreement.
• Next step: Formal and Official Language — develops the register in which passive and impersonal constructions are especially frequent.