vara + Past Participle

Be Passive (State)

Level 3

Use vara (to be) + past participle to describe the state or result of an action. Example: Dörren är stängd (The door is closed).

How It Works

The vara-passive is one of three ways to express the passive voice in Swedish. It commonly describes a state or result, but with some verbs the relation itself is ongoing rather than the aftermath of a completed event. It's formed with a conjugated form of vara (to be) and the past participle of the main verb.

Formation:
Subject + vara (conjugated) + Past Participle

The key feature of the vara-passive is that the past participle functions like an adjective and must agree with the subject's gender and number. This is a crucial difference from the supinum form used in the perfect tense, which never changes.

Participle Agreement:

  • Common gender (en-words): The participle takes its common form. The ending of this form depends on the verb's conjugation (e.g., tvättad, skriven). For some verbs, this form ends in -t (e.g., köpt, låst). Ex: Bilen är tvättad., Boken är köpt.
  • Neuter gender (ett-words): The participle takes its neuter form, which ends in -t. Ex: Huset är tvättat., Brevet är köpt.
  • Plural (all genders): The participle takes its plural form, as in tvättad → tvättade and skriven → skrivna. Ex: Bilarna är tvättade., Böckerna är skrivna.

Contrast with other passives:
Understanding the difference between the passive forms is key.

  • s-passive: Can describe a general procedure or a specific event. Dörren stängs kl. 17 can be a daily rule or a particular scheduled closing, depending on context.
  • bli-passive: The action or change of state. Dörren blir stängd. (The door is being closed).
  • vara-passive: The resulting state. Dörren är stängd. (The door is closed - it's in a closed state now).

The vara-passive can be used in any tense by conjugating vara:

  • Present: Rummet är städat. (The room is clean.)
  • Past: Rummet var städat. (The room was clean.)
  • Perfect: Rummet har varit städat. (The room has been clean.)

State, Event, And Ongoing Relation
Fönstret är öppnat av pappa can describe the result of his opening it. Fönstret blir öppnat av pappa just nu foregrounds the opening event. Fönstret är öppet describes the open condition with adjective öppet. The result construction is not inherently bad grammar; the intended time perspective determines which wording fits.

Hon är älskad av sina vänner describes an ongoing relation, not a finished act of loving. Some participles also behave as ordinary adjectives, as in the chair’s being upptagen. The boundary between a passive participle and an adjective depends on usage and meaning.

For past result states, use Maten var lagad när jag kom hem. If an earlier result no longer held, a perfect construction can report the earlier event: Stegen hade rests men hade fallit ner igen says the ladder had been raised but had fallen again. It was no longer in the raised state.

Examples (5)

  1. Dörren är låst.

    The door is locked.

    Word by Word: The door is locked.

    Describes the current state of the door. låst is the common gender form of the participle, which agrees with the en-word dörren.

  2. Fönstret är stängt.

    The window is closed.

    Word by Word: The window is closed.

    Describes the state of the window. stängt is the t-form, agreeing with the ett-word fönstret.

  3. Alla biljetter är redan sålda.

    All tickets are already sold.

    Word by Word: All tickets are already sold.

    Describes the state of the tickets. sålda is the plural form, agreeing with alla biljetter.

  4. Maten var lagad när jag kom hem.

    The food was cooked when I got home.

    Word by Word: The food was cooked when I came home.

    An example in the past tense (var). It describes the state of the food at a past moment.

  5. Är den här stolen upptagen?

    Is this chair taken?

    Word by Word: Is this here chair taken?

    Upptagen describes whether the chair is taken. Here it behaves like an adjective; not every vara plus participle-shaped word is unambiguously a verbal passive.

Common Mistakes

  • Forgetting to make the past participle agree with the subject.

    Brevet är skrivet, men böckerna är skrivet också.
    Brevet är skrivet, men böckerna är skrivna också.

    The past participle acts like an adjective and must agree with the subject. Use skrivet for the ett-word brevet and skrivna for the plural böckerna.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

vara + Past ParticipleLevel 3Be Passive (State)

Learn This First

To understand the vara-passive (state passive), you need to know how to conjugate the verb 'vara' and how to form past participles. Because the participle describes the subject's state, you must also understand how to decline it according to Swedish adjective agreement rules (singular/plural and en/ett gender).

Words in This Pattern