De Lijdende Vorm (Passive Voice)

The lijdende vorm (passive voice) flips the subject and object of an active sentence. In active voice, the subject does the action: De man bouwt het huis (The man builds the house). In passive voice, the subject receives the action: Het huis wordt door de man gebouwd (The house is built by the man).

Dutch has two passive constructions, distinguished by their auxiliary:

1. Worden + past participle — the action passive (process)
2. Zijn + past participle — the state passive (result)

The difference is subtle but important. Het huis wordt gebouwd means the house is being built (action ongoing). Het huis is gebouwd means the house has been built (result complete). Both translate as “the house is built” in English depending on context.

Worden-passive — the action passive

Built with the verb worden (literally “to become”) + the past participle of the main verb.

Present passive

Het boek wordt gelezen. — The book is being read. De brief wordt verstuurd. — The letter is sent / being sent.

Imperfect passive (the most common in narrative)

Built with werd / werden (the past form of worden) + past participle.

Het kasteel werd gebouwd. — The castle was built. De brieven werden verstuurd. — The letters were sent.

In historical writing, the imperfect passive is the workhorse. Storica’s history book uses werd / werden on every page.

Perfect passive (with worden as participle)

Built with zijn + worden-participle (geworden) + past participle of main verb. But Dutch usually drops the geworden:

Standard form: is + past participle (which collapses worden-geworden into just the auxiliary is).

Het boek is gelezen. — The book has been read. De brief is verstuurd. — The letter has been sent.

This collapsed form makes Dutch passive perfect identical to the active perfect for some verbs. Context (and meaning) distinguishes.

Zijn-passive — the state passive

Built with zijn + past participle. Expresses a completed state, not an ongoing action.

De deur is gesloten. — The door is closed. (state: it’s now in a closed condition) Het huis is gebouwd. — The house is built. (state: it now exists as a built thing)

Compare:

De deur wordt gesloten. — The door is being closed. (action: someone is closing it now) Het huis wordt gebouwd. — The house is being built. (action: construction is happening)

The zijn-passive can sometimes be confused with the perfect tense (which also uses zijn for some verbs). In context, the difference is usually clear:

Hij is vertrokken. — He has left. (active perfect) De brief is verstuurd. — The letter has been sent. (passive perfect-as-state)

The agent — introduced by door

When you want to mention who or what did the action, use door (by) + the agent.

Het boek werd door Anne Frank geschreven. — The book was written by Anne Frank. Het schilderij is door Rembrandt gemaakt. — The painting was made by Rembrandt.

The agent (introduced by door) is optional. Most Dutch passive sentences omit it, focusing on the action and the recipient.

Het boek werd gelezen. — The book was read. (no agent specified)

Why use the passive?

The passive voice in Dutch (and in any language) has specific uses:

1. The doer is unknown, irrelevant, or obvious from context

   De brief werd verstuurd. — The letter was sent. (we don’t need to say who)

2. The action’s recipient is more important than the doer

   Het kasteel werd in 1300 gebouwd. — The castle was built in 1300. (the date matters, not the builder)

3. For formal or impersonal writing

   Het rapport wordt aanbevolen. — The report is recommended. (typical official register)

4. To create general statements

   Hier wordt Nederlands gesproken. — Dutch is spoken here.

Future and conditional passive

For future passive, use zullen + worden + past participle:

De brief zal morgen verstuurd worden. — The letter will be sent tomorrow.

For conditional passive, use zou(den) + worden + past participle:

Het zou kunnen worden gedaan. — It could be done.

Note: in compound passive constructions, worden appears in infinitive form, going to the end of the clause along with the participle and any other infinitives.

Word order

Passive sentences follow Dutch verb-second word order. The conjugated auxiliary (wordt, werd, is, zal) sits in V2 position; the past participle goes to the end of the clause.

Het boek wordt elke dag door studenten gelezen. The book is read every day by students.

In subordinate clauses, the conjugated verb also goes to the end:

Hij weet dat het boek wordt gelezen. He knows that the book is being read.

The impersonal passive

Dutch can passivise verbs that don’t have a direct object, creating an impersonal passive.

Er wordt gefluisterd. — Someone is whispering. / There is whispering happening. Er wordt veel gewerkt. — Much is being worked. / People are working a lot.

This uses er as a dummy subject. The construction has no good English equivalent and feels strange to non-native speakers. It’s common in formal Dutch.

What you don’t need to do

You don’t need to choose between worden-passive and zijn-passive in every sentence. The action/state split is real but the choice is often automatic for native speakers.

You don’t need to mention the agent. Door + person is optional. Most passive sentences omit it.

You don’t need to use the passive constantly. Dutch, like English, prefers active voice when possible. Use passive when the doer is unimportant or unknown.

Common confusions

• Worden and zijn both translate as “is” in English. Wordt gelezen (action: is being read). Is gelezen (state: has been read). The auxiliary changes the meaning.
• Past participle goes to the end of the clause. Het boek wordt gelezen, not Wordt gelezen het boek.
• Door introduces the agent. Door Rembrandt gemaakt — by Rembrandt made.
• The impersonal passive uses er. Er wordt geluisterd — there is listening happening. Strange but normal.

Where you’ll meet it in the library

Passive voice is in every Dutch historical or formal text. Especially heavy in:

• The Low Countries (A2+) — Storica’s history book uses passive constantly for events whose doers don’t matter. Wars werden gestart, cities werden belegerd, treaties werden gesloten. The passive narrates without naming.
• Any Dutch news article, official document, or instruction manual. The passive is the register of impersonal authority.