The Dynamic Passive with "Bli"
In Swedish, you can form the passive voice using the verb bli (often in the past tense as blev) followed by a past participle. This is called the "dynamic passive," and it is used to focus on an action or a change of state—similar to saying something "got discovered" or "was cleaned."
When forming passives with bli, the past participle acts just like an adjective. This means it must agree with the subject in gender (en/ett) and number (singular/plural).
En-word Subjects
If the subject is a singular en-word, the past participle stays in its base form. This form typically ends in -d (including -ad) or -t.
| The treasure was discovered during the excavation. | Skatten blev upptäckt under utgrävningen. |
Ett-word Subjects
If the subject is a singular ett-word, the past participle must take a -t (or -et) ending. If the base form ends in -d or -ad, it changes to -t or -at. (Note that the pronoun allt also acts as an ett-word.)
| The object was cleaned by the archaeologist. | Föremålet blev rengjort av arkeologen. |
| Everything was carefully placed in the tent during the excavation. | Allt blev noga placerat i tältet under utgrävningen. |
Plural Subjects
When the subject is plural, the past participle takes a plural ending, regardless of whether the nouns are en- or ett-words. Depending on the verb, this plural ending is typically -a, -da, -ta, or -ade.
Notice how undersökt (examined) and placerad (placed) change to undersökta and placerade to match plural subjects.
| The treasures were examined by the researchers. | Skatterna blev undersökta av forskarna. |
| The old books were carefully placed on the shelf. | De gamla böckerna blev noga placerade på hyllan. |