State-Passive vs. Process-Passive
State-Passive vs. Process-Passive
German forces you to choose, every time, between describing an ongoing action (werden + participle) and describing the resulting state after it's done (sein + participle) — a distinction English blurs into a single ambiguous 'is + past participle'.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Two passives, two auxiliaries: werden for the action, sein for the resulting state
Die Tür wird geöffnet. (The door is being opened — an action happening right now.) vs. Die Tür ist geöffnet. (The door is open — the resulting state.)
The door is being opened. vs. The door is open.
The Vorgangspassiv ('process-passive') is built with werden + past participle and describes an action in progress or a process unfolding. The Zustandspassiv ('state-passive') is built with sein + past participle and describes the state that exists after that action is complete — it's often nearly indistinguishable from a predicate adjective ('Der Laden ist geschlossen' — 'The shop is closed', i.e., not open). English's plain 'is opened' is genuinely ambiguous between these two readings, and English typically has to add '-ing' ('is being opened') to force the process reading unambiguously. German never lets you dodge the choice — you must pick werden or sein every time, even in casual sentences where English speakers wouldn't think twice about which one they mean.
Reading English 'is + past participle': map it onto werden or sein by asking 'action or result?'
Der Laden wird geschlossen. (someone is closing it right now) vs. Der Laden ist geschlossen. (it's simply not open)
The shop is being closed (by someone, right now). vs. The shop is closed (for the day).
Because English doesn't force this distinction, English speakers translating into German should pause and ask: is this describing an event happening, usually with an implied or stated agent doing it right now, or a static condition with no ongoing action in view? 'The task is done' (state — ist erledigt) is a different sentence from 'the task is being done' (process — wird erledigt), even though casual English sometimes flattens both into just 'the task is done'. Getting this wrong doesn't just sound slightly off in German — it usually changes what's actually true about the situation, since one implies action in progress and the other doesn't.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Die Tür ist geöffnet. / wird geöffnet. | dee tuer ist geh-ERF-net / vird geh-ERF-net | The door is open. / is being opened. |
| Der Laden ist geschlossen. / wird geschlossen. | dair LAH-den ist geh-SHLOS-en / vird geh-SHLOS-en | The shop is closed. / is being closed. |
| Das Auto ist repariert. / wird repariert. | dahs OW-toh ist reh-pah-REERT / vird reh-pah-REERT | The car is fixed. / is being fixed. |
| Die Aufgabe ist erledigt. / wird erledigt. | dee OWF-gah-beh ist er-LAY-dikht / vird er-LAY-dikht | The task is done. / is being done. |
| Der Brief ist geschrieben. / wird geschrieben. | dair breef ist geh-SHREE-ben / vird geh-SHREE-ben | The letter is written. / is being written. |
| Das Zimmer ist aufgeräumt. / wird aufgeräumt. | dahs TSIM-er ist OWF-geh-roymt / vird OWF-geh-roymt | The room is tidied. / is being tidied. |
| Die Rechnung ist bezahlt. / wird bezahlt. | dee REKH-noong ist beh-TSAHLT / vird beh-TSAHLT | The bill is paid. / is being paid. |
| Das Fenster ist eingeschlagen. / wird eingeschlagen. | dahs FEN-ster ist EYEN-geh-shlah-gen / vird EYEN-geh-shlah-gen | The window is broken (smashed in). / is being smashed in. |