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Swedish Passive Voice

How does the Swedish passive work?

The passive voice focuses on the person or thing affected by an action rather than on who performs it. The performer of an action is called the agent, and in the passive, the receiver of the action becomes the subject rather than the object. Compare the following constructions:

Han öppnar dörren.He opens the door.

Dörren öppnas av honom.The door is opened by him.

is used here like by in English to mark who or what performs the action.

The s-passive

The most characteristic Swedish passive is formed with -s.

Jag föddes 1989.I was born in 1989.

Bli + past participle

Passive meaning can also be expressed with followed by a past participle.

Han blev stoppad av polisen.He was stopped by the police.

Not every Swedish verb ending in -s is passive. Some verbs have an -s form with an active meaning. These are called deponent verbs.