Passive: Result States and the Perfect
Passive: Result States and the Perfect
The counterpart to the worden passive is the zijn passive, which reports a finished state rather than an unfolding action. It also produces a surprise: the perfect passive drops the auxiliary's own participle, so 'has been written' is simply is geschreven.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
zijn + participle describes the resulting state
De deur is gesloten. Het werk is gedaan.
The door is closed. The work is done.
This construction says nothing about who acted or when; it reports how things now stand. De deur is gesloten means the door is currently shut, while De deur wordt gesloten means someone is shutting it right now. English 'the door is closed' covers both readings, which is why the worden/zijn choice is the single most important decision when forming a Dutch passive.
The perfect passive omits geworden
De brief is gisteren geschreven.
The letter was written yesterday.
Logically the perfect passive should be is geschreven geworden, and that form does technically exist, but standard Dutch drops geworden altogether. So is geschreven does double duty: 'is written' as a state, and 'has been written' as a completed passive event. The past-perfect passive follows the same rule with was: De brief was al geschreven ('the letter had already been written').
Dutch often avoids the passive with je, ze or men
Dat doe je hier niet. Ze hebben het gisteren gemaakt.
That isn't done here. It was made yesterday.
Where English reaches for the passive to avoid naming an agent, Dutch frequently uses an indefinite active subject instead: je for 'one, people in general', ze for an unspecified 'they', or the formal men. Dat doe je niet is far more natural than a passive equivalent, and ze hebben ... is the everyday way to report something done by unnamed people. Overusing the passive is a common sign of English-influenced Dutch.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- It is done
- English
- has been written
- English
- had already been done
- English
- one / people (formal)
- English
- made
- English
- named / mentioned
- English
- decided
- English
- permitted
- English
- forbidden
- English
- ready / finished
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