worden + Past Participle

Passive with Worden

Level 3

The dynamic passive (worden + participle) focuses on the action itself as it happens, rather than who is doing it or the final result.

How It Works

The passive voice with worden is used to describe a process or an ongoing action. Unlike English, which often uses 'to be' for both the process and the result, Dutch makes a clear distinction between the action itself and the resulting state.

1. The Structure
In a main sentence, you conjugate worden and place the past participle at the end. In a subordinate clause, both the 'Auxiliary + Participle' and 'Participle + Auxiliary' orders are correct (e.g., '...dat de brief wordt geschreven' or '...dat de brief geschreven wordt').

2. The Agent (door)
If you want to mention who is performing the action, use the preposition door (by): De brief wordt door de directeur geschreven. (The letter is being written by the director).

3. Tenses: Present and Past
To form the passive in the past tense (imperfectum), use werd (singular) or werden (plural):

  • Present: De auto wordt gewassen. (The car is being washed).
  • Past: De auto werd gewassen. (The car was being washed).

4. Future Passive
To describe a future action, use zullen combined with the past participle and the infinitive worden: De brief zal morgen verzonden worden. (The letter will be sent tomorrow).

5. Process vs. State
The distinction between a process (worden) and a state (zijn) applies to both present and past tenses:

  • Process: De deur wordt/werd gesloten. (The door is/was being closed).
  • State: De deur is/was gesloten. (The door is/was closed).

6. Passive with Modals
When using a modal verb, the auxiliary worden moves to the end of the sentence in its infinitive form: Het huis moet geschilderd worden. (The house must be painted).

7. The Perfect Passive
When describing a completed action in the past (the perfect tense), Dutch uses zijn. In the passive voice, the word 'geworden' is normally omitted in modern usage. This distinguishes it from the copula use of worden (to become), where 'geworden' must be included (e.g., Hij is leraar geworden). Therefore, 'De brief is geschreven' can mean both 'The letter is written' (state) and 'The letter has been written' (completed action).

8. The Impersonal Passive
Dutch can create passive sentences from intransitive agentive verbs (actions performed by a conscious actor that do not take a direct object) to describe a general activity. This construction often uses the dummy subject er. Crucially, the verb worden always remains in the singular form (wordt), regardless of how many people are involved: Er wordt gedanst (There is dancing going on). It is usually not used with involuntary actions like falling or dying.

Examples (5)

  1. De nieuwe brug wordt door de koning geopend.

    The new bridge is being opened by the king.

    Word by Word: The new bridge becomes by the king opened.

    This shows a dynamic process happening right now. The agent is introduced with 'door'.

  2. Er wordt in deze kamer niet gerookt.

    Smoking is not allowed in this room.

    Word by Word: There becomes in this room not smoked.

    This is an impersonal passive using 'er'. It describes a general rule or ongoing state of activity.

  3. Ik denk dat het huis morgen wordt geverfd.

    I think that the house will be painted tomorrow.

    Word by Word: I think that the house tomorrow becomes painted.

    In a subordinate clause, the conjugated verb 'worden' moves to the end to join the participle.

  4. De brief is gisteren verzonden.

    The letter was sent yesterday / The letter has been sent.

    Word by Word: The letter is yesterday sent.

    In the perfect tense, 'zijn' is used as the auxiliary. This can describe both a completed action and a state.

  5. Het huis wordt elke zaterdag schoongemaakt.

    The house is cleaned every Saturday.

    Word by Word: The house becomes every Saturday cleaned.

    This describes a recurring process or action using the present tense of 'worden'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'zijn' when the job is still going on.

    Different MeaningDe deur is nu geverfd.
    De deur wordt nu geverfd.

    'De deur is nu geverfd' is correct, but it says the job is finished. Use 'wordt' for the process: 'De deur wordt nu geverfd.'

  • Using the wrong preposition for the agent.

    Het boek is geschreven bij hem.
    Het boek wordt geschreven door hem.

    Use door to indicate the person performing the action in a passive sentence. Bij is wrong here, and van is limited to a few fixed participles.

  • Using 'door' for tools or instruments.

    De brief wordt geschreven door een pen.
    De brief wordt geschreven met een pen.

    Use 'door' for people (agents) but 'met' (with) for the tools used to perform the action.

How It Connects

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worden + Past ParticipleLevel 3Passive with Worden

Learn This First

To learn the passive voice with 'worden', you need to know how to conjugate the verb 'worden' in the present tense and how to form past participles. Additionally, you should understand how to use the preposition 'door' to indicate who is performing the action.

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worden