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B2 · Upper-intermediate · Lesson 26
Passive voice
Spotlight the result; hide the doer.
Polish has a 'state' passive (być + participle: the door is closed) and an 'action' passive (zostać + participle: the door got closed). In everyday speech, Poles often skip the passive entirely with się or a vague 'they'.
| Type | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| State (być) | być + -ny/-ty | Drzwi są zamknięte |
| Action (zostać) | zostać + -ny/-ty | Dom został zbudowany |
| się passive | verb + się | Tu mówi się po polsku |
| vague 'they' | 3rd person pl. | Zbudowali most |
- •być + participle = a state; zostać + participle = the event.
- •się and 'they' are the everyday spoken alternatives.
Quick check
'The house was built' (the action):
zostać + participle marks a completed action.
Tu ____ się po polsku.
The się passive uses 3rd person: mówi się.
'The doors are open' (a state):
być + participle describes a state.
Practice
Now produce the answers yourself — type them, choose the form, or build the sentence.
'The house was built' (the action):
Tu ___ się po polsku.
się passive uses 3rd person.
'The doors are open' (a state):
Say: Polish is spoken here.
być + participle describes…
What this lesson covered
The passive voice shifts the spotlight onto the result of an action and lets you leave the doer unmentioned. Polish builds it with być or zostać plus a passive participle. Zostać stresses a single completed event — dom został zbudowany (the house was built) — while być describes a resulting state — drzwi są zamknięte (the door is closed). This lesson showed both, with everyday examples like książka została wydana (the book was published) and zostałem zaproszony (I was invited). Choosing between być and zostać is the main subtlety: think “ongoing state” versus “one finished event.” The passive is common in news, signs, instructions and formal writing, so recognising it matters even before you produce it fluently. Because the participles behave like adjectives, they agree with the noun — another payoff from your earlier agreement work.