Questions & Answers about Die Rechnung ist bezahlt.
Rechnung is grammatically feminine in German, so it takes the feminine article.
- Nominative singular (subject): die Rechnung – the bill / the invoice
- Accusative singular (direct object): die Rechnung – I pay the bill → Ich bezahle die Rechnung.
- Dative singular: der Rechnung – with the bill → mit der Rechnung
- Genitive singular: der Rechnung – of the bill → der Betrag der Rechnung (the amount of the bill)
In Die Rechnung ist bezahlt, Rechnung is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative: die Rechnung.
Ist is the 3rd person singular of sein (to be), so literally the sentence is:
- Die Rechnung ist bezahlt. → The bill is paid.
This is not a perfect tense; it’s describing a state: the bill is in the condition of being paid.
Compare:
- Ich habe die Rechnung bezahlt. – I have paid the bill. (action, perfect tense)
- Die Rechnung ist bezahlt. – The bill is paid. (resulting state)
So ist here forms something like a stative passive or an adjectival construction, not a true action-focused passive like wurde bezahlt.
Formally, bezahlt is the past participle of bezahlen (to pay). In this sentence, it behaves like an adjective that describes the noun:
- Die Rechnung ist bezahlt. → The bill is paid.
- ist = linking verb (is)
- bezahlt = predicate adjective (paid)
This is very similar to English:
- The door is closed. (past participle used as an adjective)
So while bezahlt is originally verbal (from bezahlen), here it functions adjectivally: it describes the state of Rechnung.
Both relate to the bill being paid, but they focus on different things:
Die Rechnung ist bezahlt.
- Focus on the current result/state: the bill is now in a paid state.
- Roughly: The bill is (now) paid.
Die Rechnung wurde bezahlt.
- This is a passive past: it focuses on the event of being paid.
- Roughly: The bill was paid (at some point).
If you look at the subtlety:
- In a restaurant, after checking, you’d most naturally say Die Rechnung ist bezahlt, because you’re interested in the present situation (nothing is outstanding).
- In a report or story describing past actions, you’d more often use Die Rechnung wurde bezahlt, because you’re narrating what happened.
Yes, Die Rechnung ist bezahlt worden is grammatically correct. It is the present perfect passive, literally:
- The bill has been paid.
Nuance and usage:
- In spoken, everyday German, Die Rechnung ist bezahlt is usually enough to say the bill is paid.
- Die Rechnung ist bezahlt worden sounds more formal or written, often used when you need to be precise about the fact that the action of paying has taken place (e.g. in official reports, accounting, or legal language).
So in a casual context, sticking to Die Rechnung ist bezahlt is more natural.
Adjectives in German take endings when they stand directly before a noun:
- die bezahlte Rechnung – the paid bill
- Here bezahlte is an attributive adjective modifying Rechnung, so it needs an ending.
But in Die Rechnung ist bezahlt, bezahlt comes after the verb ist and describes the subject. In that position (predicate position), adjectives and participles in German do not take endings:
- Die Rechnung ist bezahlt.
- Die Rechnung ist hoch. – The bill is high.
So no ending is needed on bezahlt here.
In a main clause in German, the finite verb (the conjugated verb form, here ist) is in second position:
- Die Rechnung – first element (subject)
- ist – verb in second position
- bezahlt – everything else follows
So the normal, neutral order is:
- Die Rechnung ist bezahlt.
Die Rechnung bezahlt ist is wrong as a normal statement. You could see something like Bezahlt ist die Rechnung in poetry or for strong emphasis/topicalization, but that is marked and not the default word order.
Rechnung most commonly means:
bill, check, tab – especially in restaurants, hotels, etc.
- Die Rechnung, bitte. – The bill, please.
invoice – in business contexts.
- Wir haben die Rechnung noch nicht erhalten. – We haven’t received the invoice yet.
It can also mean calculation:
- Deine Rechnung stimmt nicht. – Your calculation is wrong.
In Die Rechnung ist bezahlt, context will usually tell you whether you are talking about a restaurant bill or an invoice, but the grammar is the same.
No, not as a complete normal sentence. You need a finite verb to form a proper sentence in German.
- Correct: Die Rechnung ist bezahlt.
- Incorrect as a full sentence: Die Rechnung bezahlt.
You might see Rechnung bezahlt as a note on paper, a heading, or a stamp (invoice paid), but that’s an elliptical form, not a full sentence. Spoken German needs the ist.
In Die Rechnung ist bezahlt, Rechnung is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence – the thing that is paid.
Clues:
- With the verb sein (to be), the noun linked by sein is usually in the nominative.
- Die Rechnung ist bezahlt. – Rechnung = nominative.
- The definite article die can be both nominative and accusative for feminine singular.
But since sein doesn’t take a direct object, die Rechnung can’t be accusative here; it must be nominative.
You change the subject to ich and use the perfect tense with haben:
- Ich habe die Rechnung bezahlt. – I paid the bill / I have paid the bill.
Structure:
- Ich – subject, nominative
- habe – conjugated auxiliary (haben, 1st person singular)
- die Rechnung – direct object, accusative
- bezahlt – past participle of bezahlen
Compare to the original:
- Die Rechnung ist bezahlt. – focuses on the bill and its state
- Ich habe die Rechnung bezahlt. – focuses on me and the action I did
Approximate pronunciations (standard German):
Rechnung → [ˈʁɛç.nʊŋ]
- R: a guttural /ʁ/ (in the throat)
- ch: like the soft German ch in ich – not like English k
- -ung: more like -oong but with a short u sound, and the final g is pronounced as a nasal ng
bezahlt → [bəˈtsaːlt]
- be-: like beh- with a very short, unstressed e (schwa)
- -z-: pronounced like ts
- -ahlt: long aː (like in father), followed by lt at the end
Together:
- Die Rechnung ist bezahlt. → [diː ˈʁɛç.nʊŋ ɪst bəˈtsaːlt]
Die Rechnung ist bezahlt is neutral in tone. It fits:
- casual situations (family, friends)
- semi-formal situations (at a restaurant, in a shop)
- formal contexts (office, business)
Tone can be made more casual or emphatic by context or additions:
- Die Rechnung ist schon bezahlt. – The bill is already paid.
- Die Rechnung ist bezahlt, alles gut. – The bill is paid, all good.
But the basic sentence itself is stylistically neutral and widely usable.