Getting Things Done: The Recipient Passive
When you go to a hair salon, you don't usually cut your own hair—someone does it for you. In English, you might say "I am getting my hair cut." In German, you express this using the "recipient passive" (often called the Bekommen-Passiv or Dativpassiv).
This structure focuses on the person receiving the action. It is formed by using bekommen (to get/receive) as your conjugated verb in the second position, and placing the past participle of the main action verb at the very end of the sentence.
| I am getting my hair cut in the salon today. | Ich bekomme heute im Salon die Haare geschnitten. |
| She is getting her hair blow-dried straight. | Sie bekommt die Haare glatt geföhnt. |
The Casual Alternative: "Kriegen"
In everyday spoken German, people frequently replace bekommen with kriegen (to get). It functions in the exact same way and is extremely common in casual conversation.
| Are you only getting the ends cut? | Kriegst du nur die Spitzen geschnitten? |
| We are getting new highlights dyed today. | Wir kriegen heute neue Strähnen gefärbt. |
Specifying the "Doer" with "von"
If you want to mention exactly who is performing the service, you can include the person by using the preposition von (by). Remember that von always triggers the dative case.
| He is getting his head massaged by a good hairdresser. | Er bekommt von einem guten Friseur den Kopf massiert. |
| I am getting my roots dyed by a new hairdresser. | Ich bekomme den Ansatz von einem neuen Friseur gefärbt. |
The Formal Alternative: "Erhalten"
Finally, you may also encounter the verb erhalten (to receive) used to build this passive structure. It works identically to bekommen and kriegen, but it sounds quite formal and is mostly reserved for written or official contexts.
| The woman gets her hair blow-dried in the salon. | Die Frau erhält im Salon die Haare geföhnt. |