In the passive voice, the thing that undergoes the action becomes the subject: instead of "the wind opened the door," we say "the door was opened." English builds every passive the same way — be + past participle ("is opened," "was opened," "has been opened"). Danish is more demanding. It has three distinct passive constructions, and the one English sentence "the door is opened" can correspond to any of them depending on what you mean. This page lays out all three side by side; the following pages drill each one.
The three Danish passives
| Type | Built from | Example | Core nuance |
|---|---|---|---|
| -s passive | verb + -s | døren åbnes | general / habitual / rule-like |
| blive-passive | blive
| døren bliver åbnet | a single, concrete, dynamic event |
| være-passive | være
| døren er åbnet | the resulting state after the event |
The first is synthetic — you change the verb itself by adding -s. The other two are periphrastic — you use a helping verb (blive "become" or være "be") plus the past participle. Notice that English collapses all three into "is opened." Danish forces you to choose.
The same sentence, three ways
Take the verb åbne (to open) and the subject døren (the door). Here is the same basic content in all three passives, with the nuance spelled out:
Døren åbnes klokken ni hver morgen.
The door is opened at nine every morning. (-s passive: a general rule/routine, not one specific event)
Døren bliver åbnet lige nu.
The door is being opened right now. (blive-passive: one concrete event in progress)
Døren er åbnet.
The door is (has been) opened. (være-passive: the resulting state — it now stands open)
These are not interchangeable. The first describes a standing routine. The second narrates an event happening at this moment. The third reports the state the door is in now, after someone opened it. English "the door is opened" is genuinely ambiguous between all three; Danish disambiguates.
Process vs event vs state
The split is really about whether you are describing a dynamic process or a finished result.
The -s passive and the blive-passive are both dynamic — something is being done. They differ in register and scope: -s leans general, formal, and rule-like (instructions, notices, recipes, headlines), while blive is the everyday way to report a specific event.
Her tales dansk.
Danish is spoken here. (-s passive: a general fact about the place — typical of a sign)
Huset bliver bygget i år.
The house is being built this year. (blive-passive: a concrete ongoing event)
The være-passive, by contrast, is stative — it names the condition that results once the action is over. Døren er åbnet does not narrate the opening; it tells you the door now stands open. This is why være + participle often shades into a pure adjective: døren er åben ("the door is open") describes essentially the same state without reference to any action at all.
Brevet er allerede sendt.
The letter has already been sent. (være-passive: the resulting state — it's gone now)
Maden bliver lavet af min mor.
The food is being made by my mum. (blive-passive: the event of cooking)
Adding the agent with af
In all three passives, if you want to name who did the action — the "by"-phrase in English — you add it with the preposition af:
Billedet blev malet af en berømt kunstner.
The painting was painted by a famous artist.
Reglerne fastsættes af ministeriet.
The rules are set by the ministry. (-s passive, formal register)
Note that af is the passive agent marker; do not reach for ved or med here. As in English, the agent is often left out entirely — the whole point of the passive is frequently that the doer is unknown or unimportant: Cyklen blev stjålet ("the bike was stolen") needs no af-phrase at all.
Why this matters
If you learned only one passive — and most courses teach only blive — you will sound oddly heavy and event-focused, and you will misread the everyday -s forms all over signs, recipes, and official prose. Worse, you will reach for være where blive is needed (or vice versa) and accidentally describe a state when you meant an event. The three-way system is not decoration; it is how Danish carves up a space that English leaves blurry.
Common Mistakes
❌ Døren er åbnet af vinden.
Incorrect for an event — være + participle implies a state, not the action.
✅ Døren blev åbnet af vinden.
The door was opened by the wind. (a concrete event → blive-passive)
If you are narrating something that happened, use blive, not være. Være + participle describes the resulting state and clashes with an event reading.
❌ Her bliver talt dansk.
Unidiomatic on a sign — blive-passive forces an 'event' reading on a general fact.
✅ Her tales dansk.
Danish is spoken here. (a general truth → -s passive)
For standing facts, rules, and notices, the -s passive is the natural choice; blive would suggest a one-off happening.
❌ Brevet bliver sendt i går.
Incorrect — blive present with a past-time adverbial.
✅ Brevet blev sendt i går.
The letter was sent yesterday. (past event → blev + participle)
Match the tense of blive to the time: past event needs blev, not present bliver.
❌ Bogen er skrevet med ham.
Incorrect — wrong preposition for the agent.
✅ Bogen er skrevet af ham.
The book was written by him. (agent → af)
The passive agent is introduced with af, never med or ved.
Key Takeaways
- Danish has three passives where English has one: -s (general/rule-like), blive (concrete event), være (resulting state).
- The same English "is opened" maps to åbnes / bliver åbnet / er åbnet depending on meaning.
- blive
- participle = the action in progress; være
- participle = the state after it (bliver malet vs er malet).
- participle = the action in progress; være
- Name the doer with af. The next pages drill each construction in full.
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- The -s PassiveB1 — The synthetic -s passive — formed by adding -s to the verb (taler → tales) — is the natural Danish passive for general truths, instructions, notices, recipes, and modal constructions. Here is how to build and use it.
- The Blive PassiveB1 — The blive-passive (blive + past participle) is Danish's everyday passive for a single, concrete, dynamic event — and the key contrast it forces is blive (the action happening) vs være (the state that results).
- The Være Passive (Resultant State)C1 — How 'være + past participle' describes the resulting state rather than the action — and why English 'is X-ed' splits into Danish være vs blive.
- -s Passive vs Blive-PassiveC1 — When to use the -s passive (general truths, rules, instructions, infinitives) versus the blive-passive (a single concrete dynamic event) — with a one-line test and minimal pairs.
- BliveA1 — Full reference for blive ('to become / to stay') — principal parts, all core tenses in natural sentences, its double life as 'become' and 'remain', and its central role as the passive auxiliary and future marker.
- Present and Past ParticiplesB1 — Danish's two participles — the -ende present participle and the -et/-t/strong past participle — their forms, and the active/ongoing versus passive/completed split that governs them.