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Questions & Answers about Han blir utvist.
What is each word doing in Han blir utvist?
- Han = the subject pronoun, he
- blir = present tense of å bli
- utvist = past participle of å utvise
Together, blir utvist forms a passive verb phrase.
Why is blir used here if å bli usually means to become?
That is a very common question. On its own, å bli often does mean to become. But Norwegian also uses bli + past participle to make a passive construction.
So Han blir utvist is not understood as the odd-sounding English He becomes expelled. Idiomatically, it means something like:
- He is being expelled
- He gets expelled
- He is deported
The exact English wording depends on context.
Is this sentence passive?
Yes. It is a passive sentence.
The person affected by the action is the subject: han. The sentence does not say who is doing the expelling or deporting.
If you want to mention the agent, you can add it with av:
- Han blir utvist av skolen.
- Han blir utvist av politiet.
An active version would be:
- Skolen utviser ham.
- Politiet utviser ham.
Why is it han and not ?