Passive: ginn + Participle

The Passive: Ginn + Participle

Level 3

To say what is being done, use ginn + the participle at the end: D'Haus gëtt gebaut. (The house is being built.)

How It Works

1. How it is built
The passive puts the focus on what happens, not on who does it. Use the right form of ginn in second place and the past participle at the end:

  • D'Haus gëtt gebaut. (The house is being built.)
  • D'Bréiwer ginn all Dag bruecht. (The letters are delivered every day.)

Ginn agrees with the subject: hie gëtt, si ginn. By the n-rule, ginn becomes gi before most consonants: D'Bréiwer gi muer bruecht.

2. Who does it: vun
To name the doer, use vun with the dative. Vun and dem join to make vum: vum Chef. Other articles stay separate: vun der Police, vun engem Frënd. See Preposition and Article Contractions.

  • Den Auto gëtt vun engem Frënd reparéiert. (The car is being repaired by a friend.)

3. Without a subject
A passive can describe an activity in general: Hei gëtt Lëtzebuergesch geschwat. (Luxembourgish is spoken here.) See The Passive Without a Subject.

4. Ginn has three jobs
Ginn means to give (Ech ginn him e Buch), to become (Hie gëtt Dokter), and with a participle it forms the passive. The participle tells you it is a passive.

5. Gëtt or ass?
D'Geschäft gëtt zougemaach describes the action (the shop is being closed). D'Geschäft ass zougemaach describes the result (the shop is closed). See Finished States: Sinn + Participle.

6. Other tenses
For a finished action, use the perfect passive: D'Haus ass 1990 gebaut ginn. See The Perfect Passive: Ass ... ginn. News texts often use gouf. With a modal verb: The Passive With Modal Verbs.

Examples (6)

  1. D'Haus gëtt gebaut.

    The house is being built.

    Gëtt agrees with the singular subject, and gebaut goes to the end.

  2. Hei gëtt Lëtzebuergesch geschwat.

    Luxembourgish is spoken here.

    A passive about an activity in general.

  3. D'Bréiwer ginn all Dag bruecht.

    The letters are delivered every day.

    Plural subject, so the form is ginn.

  4. Den Auto gëtt vun engem Frënd reparéiert.

    The car is being repaired by a friend.

    The doer is added with vun and the dative.

  5. D'Kanner ginn um véier Auer ofgeholl.

    The children are picked up at four o'clock.

    Ofgeholl is the participle of the separable verb ofhuelen.

  6. De Bréif gëtt muer vum Chef ënnerschriwwen.

    The letter will be signed by the boss tomorrow.

    Vum is vun + dem. The present passive can also refer to the future.

Common Mistakes

  • Using ass instead of gëtt (intended meaning: the house is being built right now).

    D'Haus ass gebaut.
    D'Haus gëtt gebaut.

    D'Haus ass gebaut means the house is finished. To describe the building work in progress, use gëtt.

  • Using the singular gëtt with a plural subject.

    D'Bréiwer gëtt all Dag bruecht.
    D'Bréiwer ginn all Dag bruecht.

    Bréiwer is plural, so ginn must be plural too.

  • Using the infinitive instead of the participle.

    D'Haus gëtt bauen.
    D'Haus gëtt gebaut.

    The passive needs the past participle gebaut. Ginn with an infinitive does not form a passive.

How It Connects

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Passive: ginn + ParticipleLevel 3The Passive: Ginn + Participle

Learn This First

Before The Passive: Ginn + Participle, learn To Give and to Become: Ginn and Regular Past Participles: Ge- ... -t.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

vun