Table of Contents
The passive voice in Polish (“the house was built”) uses the passive participles from the previous lesson plus być or zostać. Alongside it, Polish has a family of impersonal constructions (“one says”, “it was decided”) that native speakers use constantly, often where English would use the passive. This is the last big grammar system of the course.
Passive with BYĆ and ZOSTAĆ
The pattern is like English: to be + participle. Polish has two auxiliaries with a nuance between them:
Być + participle describes a state:
Sklep jest zamknięty – The shop is closed (that’s its state)
Obiad był już zrobiony – Lunch was already made
Zostać + participle describes the event of something being done (perfective flavor):
Sklep został zamknięty w zeszłym roku – The shop was closed down last year
Ten dom został zbudowany w 1930 roku – This house was built in 1930
E-mail zostanie wysłany jutro – The email will be sent tomorrow
The doer, if you mention it at all, appears with przez + accusative: Książka została napisana przez młodego autora – The book was written by a young author.
The impersonal SIĘ
Add się to a third-person verb and you get “one does / people do / it is done”:
Jak to się pisze? – How is it spelled? (literally “how does it write itself”)
Tutaj mówi się po polsku – Polish is spoken here
Tego się nie robi – One doesn’t do that
W Polsce je się dużo zup – In Poland people eat a lot of soups
This construction is everywhere in spoken Polish, and it’s friendlier than the full passive. When in doubt, reach for się.
Past impersonal: -NO / -TO
For “somebody did it, nobody says who”, Polish has a special past form ending in -no / -to:
Zbudowano nowy most – A new bridge was built
Powiedziano mi, że to niemożliwe – I was told it’s impossible
Zamknięto lotnisko – The airport was closed
Znaleziono klucze – The keys were found
You’ll meet this form in every news article. It has no person and no tense variations: one form, always past, always “they did it, unspecified who”.
Which one should you use?
In conversation: się constructions and simple active sentences do most of the work. Mówi się, że będzie zimna zima – They say the winter will be cold. In writing and news: zostać + participle and the -no/-to forms take over. As a learner, produce the się forms freely and make sure you recognize the rest.
Examples
Muzeum jest otwarte od dziewiątej do piątej – The museum is open from nine to five
Ten film został nakręcony w Krakowie – This movie was shot in Krakow
Kolacja zostanie podana o ósmej – Dinner will be served at eight
Jak się mówi “hello” po polsku? – How do you say “hello” in Polish?
W tej restauracji gotuje się świetnie – The cooking in this restaurant is great
Skradziono mi rower – My bike was stolen
Tu nie wolno palić – Smoking is not allowed here (wolno is an impersonal “it is allowed”)
Trzeba kupić bilety wcześniej – One needs to buy tickets in advance (trzeba, another impersonal friend)
Vocabulary
| zostać – to become / auxiliary of passive
zbudowany – built wysłany – sent nakręcony – filmed podany – served |
przez – by (in passive)
wolno – it is allowed trzeba – one must, it is necessary można – one can, it is possible kraść / ukraść – to steal |
Exercises
Rebuild the sentence with the construction in brackets.
- Ten most ______________ w 1950 roku (ZBUDOWAĆ, zostać-passive) – This bridge was built in 1950
- Muzeum jest ______________ w poniedziałki (ZAMKNĄĆ, być-passive) – The museum is closed on Mondays
- Jak ______________ to słowo? (PISAĆ, impersonal się) – How is this word spelled?
- W Hiszpanii ______________ dużo ryb (JEŚĆ, impersonal się) – In Spain people eat a lot of fish
- ______________ nowe lotnisko (OTWORZYĆ, -no/-to form) – A new airport was opened
- List ______________ jutro (WYSŁAĆ, zostać-passive, future) – The letter will be sent tomorrow
- ______________ mi telefon (UKRAŚĆ, -no/-to form) – My phone was stolen
- Ta książka została napisana ______________ (PRZEZ + znany autor) – This book was written by a famous author
Answers:
1: został zbudowany; 2: zamknięte; 3: pisze się; 4: je się; 5: Otwarto; 6: zostanie wysłany; 7: Ukradziono; 8: przez znanego autora