Föremålet blev rengjort av arkeologen.

Questions & Answers about Föremålet blev rengjort av arkeologen.

Why does the participle rengjort end in a -t here?
Because the subject of the sentence, föremålet, is an ett-word. In a bli-passive sentence, the past participle acts like an adjective and must agree with the subject's gender and number. If the subject were an en-word, like skeden (the spoon), it would be skeden blev rengjord.
Could I say Föremålet rengjordes instead?
Yes! Both the s-passive (rengjordes) and the bli-passive (blev rengjort) work here. The bli-passive often emphasizes the change of state (from dirty to clean), while the s-passive focuses slightly more on the action itself. In practice, they are usually interchangeable.
How is the verb rengöra formed?
It is a compound of the adjective ren (clean) and the verb göra (to do or make), so it literally translates to "make clean". The past participle rengjort is formed exactly like the past participle of göra, which is gjort.
Is av always the preposition used for "by" in passive sentences?
Yes, when you want to introduce the agent (the person or thing performing the action) in a passive sentence, Swedish always uses av. It works exactly like "by" in English passive constructions.

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