The Action Passive with "blive"
In Danish, you have already seen the s-passive, which is perfect for general rules and instructions. However, when you want to describe an action or a process that is actively taking place—like a product being manufactured or distributed—you will usually use the blive-passive (also known as the action passive).
You form the action passive by taking the auxiliary verb blive (to be) and adding the past participle of the main verb. In the present tense, you use bliver.
| The car is built at the factory. | Bilen bliver bygget på fabrikken. |
| The machine at the factory is being repaired. | Maskinen på fabrikken bliver repareret. |
| The product is sold in the shop. | Varen bliver solgt i butikken. |
The Passive in the Past Tense
To describe an action or a production process that was completed in the past, simply change the auxiliary verb to its past tense form, blev. The main verb remains in the past participle.
| Was the product delivered yesterday? | Blev varen leveret i går? |
Adding the Agent with "af"
In a passive sentence, the focus is on what is happening to the subject, rather than who or what is doing it. However, if you need to specify the performer of the action (the agent), you use the preposition af (by).
| The box was fetched by the truck. | Kassen blev hentet af lastbilen. |
Describing Processes
The action passive is incredibly useful for talking about how things are made, sorted, and transported. Notice how bliver and blev are used alongside different past participles to describe these daily industrial processes:
| The wine is transported by train. | Vinen bliver transporteret med toget. |
| Is the cheese produced here? | Bliver osten produceret her? |
| The toy is manufactured at the factory. | Legetøjet bliver fremstillet på fabrikken. |
| The computer was assembled yesterday. | Computeren blev samlet i går. |
| The product is delivered by the truck. | Varen bliver leveret af lastbilen. |