English builds its passive with one verb — to be: the house is built, the letter was written. That single form is ambiguous: "the house is built" can mean either "construction is happening right now" or "the house already stands, finished." Dutch refuses that ambiguity. It splits the passive across two auxiliaries: worden for the process (the action unfolding) and zijn for the state (the finished result). Choosing the wrong one tells your listener the opposite of what you mean — that something is still under construction when in fact it's done, or vice versa.
The core decision
Ask whether you're describing the action happening or the result that remains:
- The action is in progress / happening (something is being done) → worden
- The action is finished, and you're describing the resulting state (something has been done and now simply is that way) → zijn
- past participle.
The deep logic: worden literally means "to become," so a worden-passive frames the subject as becoming affected — the action is live, in motion. Zijn means "to be," so a zijn-passive frames the subject as simply being in the post-action condition — the doing is over and only the result is in view. English collapses "become-affected" and "be-in-the-resulting-state" into one verb; Dutch keeps them visibly apart.
Worden: the process passive
Worden + participle describes the action as ongoing — the work is happening. This is the everyday "is being done" passive.
Het huis wordt gebouwd; ze zijn net begonnen.
The house is being built; they've just started.
De brief wordt nu vertaald, je krijgt hem morgen.
The letter is being translated now; you'll get it tomorrow.
Het hele kantoor wordt vandaag schoongemaakt.
The whole office is being cleaned today.
In all three, the action is live — bricks are going up, the translator is at work, the cleaners are in. Worden is the auxiliary precisely because the subject is still becoming affected.
Zijn: the state (resultant) passive
Zijn + participle drops the action entirely and describes the state that results from it. The doing is finished; what you're reporting is how things now stand.
Het huis is gebouwd; je kunt er volgende maand in.
The house is built (finished); you can move in next month.
De brief is al vertaald, hier is de Nederlandse versie.
The letter has already been translated; here's the Dutch version.
Het kantoor is schoongemaakt, je kunt naar binnen.
The office has been cleaned; you can go in.
Here nothing is happening anymore. Het huis is gebouwd doesn't mean anyone is building — it means the building stands, complete. This is why the zijn-passive is sometimes called the resultant state passive: it photographs the finished result.
The minimal pair that says it all
Put them side by side and the whole distinction snaps into focus — same verb, same participle, opposite meaning:
De deur wordt geverfd.
The door is being painted. (a painter is at work right now)
De deur is geverfd.
The door is painted. (the paint is dry; it's done)
If you walked past and saw someone with a brush, you'd say the first. If you walked past and saw a freshly finished door, you'd say the second. Picking the wrong one genuinely changes what the listener pictures.
The past tense: werd vs was
The same split carries into the past, and this is where it gets subtle for English speakers, because English "was built" again covers both:
- werd gebouwd = was being built (the process, ongoing in the past).
- was gebouwd = had been built (the result already existed at some past point — a past perfect feeling).
Toen ik aankwam, werd het huis nog gebouwd.
When I arrived, the house was still being built. (process — werd)
Toen ik aankwam, was het huis al gebouwd.
When I arrived, the house had already been built. (prior result — was)
The English "was" forks into werd (action in progress then) versus was (result already in place by then). Anchor it to "was being" → werd, "had been" → was.
Naming the agent with "door"
Either passive can name who did it, using door ("by"):
De ramen worden door een professioneel bedrijf gewassen.
The windows are being washed by a professional company. (process + agent)
Dit schilderij is door Vermeer geschilderd.
This painting was painted by Vermeer. (resulting state + agent)
Both are grammatical; the choice of worden vs zijn still hinges purely on process-vs-state, independent of whether you mention the agent.
A note on the perfect of the process passive
When the process passive itself goes into the perfect tense, Dutch uses zijn + participle + worden (in its old participle form geworden, which then drops to just is ... [participle]). In practice this is exactly why Het huis is gebouwd and the full perfect Het huis is gebouwd geworden can both surface — but in modern standard (Netherlands) Dutch the geworden is normally omitted, so is gebouwd does double duty. The reliable rule for learners stays the test above: happening now → worden; finished result → zijn.
De fiets wordt gerepareerd, kom over een uur terug.
The bike is being repaired; come back in an hour. (process)
De fiets is gerepareerd, je kunt hem ophalen.
The bike has been repaired; you can pick it up. (result)
Quick-decision table
| You mean… | Auxiliary | Example |
|---|---|---|
| action in progress (is being done) | worden | Het huis wordt gebouwd. |
| finished result (has been done, now is) | zijn | Het huis is gebouwd. |
| past, action ongoing then (was being) | werd | Het werd gebouwd. |
| past, result already in place (had been) | was | Het was al gebouwd. |
| naming the doer |
| ... door Vermeer geschilderd. |
Common Mistakes
❌ Het huis is gebouwd op dit moment.
Contradiction — 'is gebouwd' means finished, but 'op dit moment' means ongoing. Use 'wordt' for an action in progress.
✅ Het huis wordt op dit moment gebouwd.
The house is being built at the moment.
❌ De brief wordt al vertaald, hier is hij.
Contradiction — 'hier is hij' shows it's done; the finished result takes 'is', not 'wordt'.
✅ De brief is al vertaald, hier is hij.
The letter has already been translated; here it is.
❌ Toen ik kwam, was het huis nog gebouwd.
Wrong — 'still in progress' is the process passive in the past; use 'werd'.
✅ Toen ik kwam, werd het huis nog gebouwd.
When I came, the house was still being built.
❌ De deur is geverfd door een schilder die nu bezig is.
Contradiction — someone is busy now, so it's the ongoing process; use 'wordt'.
✅ De deur wordt geverfd door een schilder die nu bezig is.
The door is being painted by a painter who's at work now.
❌ Het kantoor wordt schoongemaakt, je kunt nu naar binnen.
Contradiction — if you can go in, the cleaning is done; use the state passive 'is'.
✅ Het kantoor is schoongemaakt, je kunt nu naar binnen.
The office has been cleaned; you can go in now.
Key Takeaways
- worden
- participle = the process passive: the action is happening ("is being built").
- zijn
- participle = the state passive: the action is finished and you're describing the result ("has been built / is built").
- English's single "is built" splits in two — test with "is being" (→ worden) vs "has been" (→ zijn).
- In the past, werd = "was being" (ongoing then); was = "had been" (result already there).
- Name the agent with door in either passive — it doesn't affect the worden/zijn choice.
Now practice Dutch
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Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- The Passive with WordenB1 — How Dutch builds the dynamic, process passive with worden plus a past participle — De brief wordt geschreven — and why this 'something is being done' passive is grammatically separate from the resulting-state passive with zijn.
- Choosing the Perfect Auxiliary: Hebben or Zijn?B1 — A decision guide for the Dutch perfect tense — zijn for changes of place and state (gaan, komen, worden, sterven), hebben for transitives and plain activities — plus the crucial rule that motion verbs flip between the two depending on whether a destination is named.
- Zullen vs Gaan: Expressing the FutureB1 — A decision guide for the Dutch future — gaan for intentions and plans ('going to'), zullen for predictions, promises and proposals ('will/shall', 'Zullen we?'), and the present tense for scheduled events — plus why overusing zullen is the classic English-speaker error.
- Modal Verbs: OverviewA2 — A map of the six Dutch modals — kunnen, mogen, moeten, willen, zullen, hoeven — and the one pattern they share: modal + bare infinitive at the end of the clause.