The pattern
In the perfect, the passive is a present form of zijn plus the past participle, without geworden. In the past perfect, you use was or waren.
- Present: Het huis wordt gebouwd. (is being built)
- Simple past: Het huis werd gebouwd. (was built)
- Perfect: Het huis is gebouwd. (has been built, or was built)
- Past perfect: Het huis was gebouwd. (had been built)
- Plural: De huizen zijn gebouwd, De huizen waren gebouwd.
- If you say who did it, add door: door een bekende architect.
- In a subordinate clause both orders are fine: dat het pakket is bezorgd or dat het pakket bezorgd is.
Examples
| Het stadhuis is in 1920 gebouwd. | The town hall was built in 1920. |
| Mijn fiets is vannacht gestolen. | My bike was stolen last night. |
| Uw aanvraag is door de gemeente goedgekeurd. | Your application has been approved by the municipality. |
| Ik ben vanochtend door de huisarts teruggebeld. | I was called back by the GP this morning. |
| Weet jij of het pakket al is bezorgd? | Do you know if the parcel has been delivered yet? |
| Toen Daan thuiskwam, was de taart al aangesneden. | When Daan got home, the cake had already been cut. |
| De vergadering was al afgelast, maar niemand had het ons verteld. | The meeting had already been cancelled, but nobody had told us. |
| De brug is vorige week door de gemeente afgesloten. | The bridge was closed by the municipality last week. |
| De brug is afgesloten, dus je moet omrijden. | The bridge is closed, so you have to take a detour. |
Why it works this way
Worden means become: it describes a change in progress. Het huis wordt gebouwd is the building site, cranes and all. The perfect of worden takes zijn (Het is koud geworden), so on paper you might expect is gebouwd geworden. Standard Dutch keeps zijn and leaves geworden out. German keeps it (ist gebaut worden), which is why German speakers often add it. In informal speech in Belgium and the south of the Netherlands you may hear is gebouwd geworden, but it is not standard Dutch.
Remember: worden is the scaffolding. While the work is going on, you see it (wordt gebouwd). When the job is done, the scaffolding comes down and is gebouwd is what is left.
### One form, two meanings
Because is gebouwd describes a finished result, it does two jobs. An action reading reports that something happened: Het pakket is gisteren bezorgd. A state reading describes a condition that holds now: De brug is afgesloten, so you cannot cross. Context tells you which one is meant. A time phrase or a doer with door usually points to an action, while a consequence in the present (dus je moet omrijden) points to a state. The state use works much like an adjective, see past participles as adjectives.
### The English trap
English was built usually becomes is gebouwd or werd gebouwd. Dutch was gebouwd is the past perfect: had been built, or the state at a moment in the past. And routines like the rubbish is collected on Tuesdays need worden: Het afval wordt op dinsdag opgehaald. With is (Het afval is op dinsdag opgehaald), you report that it was collected on one particular Tuesday.
Watch out
NotHet station is in 1920 gebouwd geworden.
SayHet station is in 1920 gebouwd.
standard Dutch leaves out geworden
NotMijn fiets heeft geweest gestolen.
SayMijn fiets is gestolen.
English has been is not heeft geweest; Dutch uses is plus the participle
NotDe vergadering had al afgelast geweest.
SayDe vergadering was al afgelast.
English had been becomes was plus the participle
NotMijn aanvraag is van de gemeente goedgekeurd.
SayMijn aanvraag is door de gemeente goedgekeurd.
the doer comes with door, not van
Quick check
- Put this sentence in the perfect: Het zwembad werd vorig jaar geopend.
- Fix the sentence: Onze buren zijn gisteren door de politie gewaarschuwd geworden.
- Fill in a form of zijn: Toen Priya bij de balie kwam, ... haar afspraak al geannuleerd.
- Does is gesloten describe a state or a past action here? Sorry, deze kassa is gesloten. U kunt hiernaast afrekenen.
Show the answers
- Het zwembad is vorig jaar geopend. (zijn plus participle, no geworden)
- Onze buren zijn gisteren door de politie gewaarschuwd. (standard Dutch leaves out geworden)
- was (the cancelling happened before she arrived, so past perfect)
- A state: the till is closed right now, which is why you are sent to the next one; nothing is said about when it was closed.
Use it today
Look at today's emails, post or app notifications and write three sentences about what has already been done, using is or zijn plus a participle, such as Mijn pakket is bezorgd or De huur is betaald. Then add one sentence with was about something that had already happened before you got home.