Introduction: Shifting the Focus

The Passive Voice (lijdende vorm) is used when the focus of the sentence is on the action or the recipient of the action, rather than the person or thing performing the action (the agent). At B1, you learned the simple present and past passives. B2 expands this to include perfect tenses and passives with modal verbs.

Understanding and using the full range of passive constructions allows for more flexible and sophisticated expression, particularly in formal writing and reporting where the agent may be unknown, irrelevant, or less important than the action itself.

Formation Review

The basic structure involves an auxiliary verb (worden for present/past tenses, zijn for perfect tenses) and the past participle of the main verb. The agent, if mentioned, is introduced by door.

Auxiliary Verbs:

• worden (to become/get) - used for present, past, future simple passives.
• zijn (to be) - used for perfect passives.

Passive Voice in Different Tenses

1. Present Simple Passive (Onvoltooid Tegenwoordige Tijd - OTT): Action happening now or generally.

• Structure: worden (present tense) + past participle
• Example: Het boek wordt gelezen. (The book is being read / is read.)
• Agent: Het boek wordt door Jan gelezen. (The book is read by Jan.)

1. Past Simple Passive (Onvoltooid Verleden Tijd - OVT): Action happened in the past.

• Structure: worden (past tense - werd/werden) + past participle
• Example: De brief werd geschreven. (The letter was written.)
• Agent: De brief werd door Marie geschreven. (The letter was written by Marie.)

1. Present Perfect Passive (Voltooid Tegenwoordige Tijd - VTT): Action completed, result relevant now.

• Structure: zijn (present tense - is/zijn) + past participle
• Example: De deur is gesloten. (The door has been closed / is closed.)
• Agent: De deur is door de conciërge gesloten. (The door was closed by the caretaker.)
• Note: Sometimes uses worden in perfect form (is geworden), especially if process is emphasized, but zijn + pp is most common for completed state.

1. Past Perfect Passive (Voltooid Verleden Tijd - VVT): Action completed before another past event.

• Structure: zijn (past tense - was/waren) + past participle
• Example: Het rapport was al ingediend toen de manager belde. (The report had already been submitted when the manager called.)
• Agent: Het rapport was door de afdeling ingediend. (The report had been submitted by the department.)

1. Future Simple Passive (Onvoltooid Tegenwoordige Toekomende Tijd - OTTT): Action will happen in the future.

• Structure: zullen (present tense) + worden (infinitive) + past participle
• Example: De resultaten zullen morgen bekendgemaakt worden. (The results will be announced tomorrow.)
• Agent: De resultaten zullen door de commissie bekendgemaakt worden. (The results will be announced by the committee.)

1. Future Perfect Passive (Voltooid Tegenwoordige Toekomende Tijd - VTTT): Action will be completed by a future point.

• Structure: zullen (present tense) + zijn (infinitive) + past participle
• Example: Het project zal volgende week afgerond zijn. (The project will have been completed next week.)
• Agent: Het project zal door het team afgerond zijn. (The project will have been completed by the team.)

Passive Voice with Modal Verbs

Modal verbs (kunnen, moeten, mogen, willen) can also be used in passive constructions.

1. Present Tense Modal Passive:

• Structure: Modal verb (present) + worden (infinitive) + past participle
• Example: Dit formulier kan hier ingevuld worden. (This form can be filled in here.)
• Example: De regels moeten gevolgd worden. (The rules must be followed.)

1. Past Tense Modal Passive:

• Structure: Modal verb (past) + worden (infinitive) + past participle
• Example: Het probleem kon niet opgelost worden. (The problem could not be solved.)
• Example: Dat moest gezegd worden. (That had to be said.)

1. Perfect Tense Modal Passive (Perfect Infinitive Passive): Expresses possibility/necessity in the past.

• Structure: Modal verb (present/past) + zijn (infinitive) + past participle
• Example: Het pakket kan gisteren bezorgd zijn. (The package might have been delivered yesterday - possibility)
• Example: De factuur had betaald moeten zijn. (The invoice should have been paid - past obligation/necessity, uses perfect infinitive hebben moeten betalen structure adapted)
• More complex structure: Het werk had gedaan kunnen worden. (The work could have been done - combines hebben kunnen doen perfect infinitive idea with passive)
• Active Perfect Infinitive: Ik had het werk kunnen doen. (I could have done the work.)
• Passive using Perfect Infinitive concept: Het werk had (door mij) gedaan kunnen worden.

When to Use the Passive

• When the agent is unknown: Mijn fiets is gestolen. (My bike has been stolen.)
• When the agent is obvious or irrelevant: Er wordt hier Nederlands gesproken. (Dutch is spoken here.)
• When the focus is on the action/result: De nieuwe brug is geopend. (The new bridge has been opened.)
• In formal/objective writing (scientific reports, news): De gegevens werden geanalyseerd. (The data were analyzed.)

Expanding your use of the passive voice across all tenses and with modal verbs significantly enhances your ability to express ideas with different nuances and focus points. Pay close attention to the correct auxiliary verb (worden or zijn) depending on the tense (simple vs. perfect) and practice transforming active sentences into various passive forms.