🔁 Passive & Impersonal Forms
How Polish says something was done without saying who did it. Three constructions, each with its own register — and the impersonal ones are far more common in real Polish than the textbook passive.
🗺️ Three ways to lose the subject
English has essentially one passive ("the house was built"). Polish has three constructions competing for that job, and choosing between them is a register decision.
| Construction | Shape | Feel | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| strona bierna true passive |
być / zostać + passive participle | formal, often written; can name the agent | Dom został zbudowany. |
| forma z „się" reflexive impersonal |
się + 3rd person singular | everyday, general truths, rules | Tu mówi się po polsku. |
| forma na -no / -to past impersonal |
participle stem + -no / -to | reports, history, news — past only | Zbudowano dom. |
The B2 standard lists the passive and the impersonal forms as w ograniczonym zakresie — "in limited scope". You are not expected to wield every variant. You are expected to recognise all three and produce the common ones, because press and official texts are built from them.
1️⃣ The true passive — być vs zostać
Both take a passive participle. The choice between them is aspect all over again.
być + imperfective participle → an ongoing or repeated process
zostać + perfective participle → a single completed event
agent, if named: przez + accusative
zostać + perfective participle → a single completed event
agent, if named: przez + accusative
Dziecko jest myte przez matkę. być
DZHETS-koh yest MI-teh pshes MAHT-keh.
The child is being washed by the mother. — process, happening
Pokój zostanie uporządkowany przez Pawła. zostać
POH-kooy zos-TAH-nyeh oo-poh-zhond-koh-VAH-ni pshes PAH-vwah.
The room will be tidied by Paweł. — one completed event, in the future
Książka jest czytana przez studentów.
KSHONSH-kah yest chi-TAH-nah pshes stoo-DEN-toof.
The book is read by the students. — habitual
List został wysłany wczoraj.
leest ZOS-tahw vi-SWAH-ni VCHO-rai.
The letter was sent yesterday. — one event, done
Dom został zbudowany w 1920 roku.
dohm ZOS-tahw zboo-doh-VAH-ni f TI-shonts dzheh-VYENCH-set dvoo-DZHES-tim ROH-koo.
The house was built in 1920.
Ta decyzja była podjęta przez dyrektora.
tah deh-TSI-zyah BI-wah pod-YEN-tah pshes di-rek-TOH-rah.
That decision was taken by the director.
The participle agrees with the subject, not with the agent. Dom został zbudowany (masculine), Szkoła została zbudowana (feminine), Okno zostało zbudowane (neuter). Getting that agreement wrong is a standard marked error.
Passive or just a description?
One genuinely tricky pair. Być + participle can describe an action or a resulting state, and Polish distinguishes them where English does not.
Sklep jest otwarty od ósmej. state
sklep yest ot-FAR-ti od OOS-mey.
The shop is open from eight. — a description of how things are
Sklep został otwarty w maju. passive
sklep ZOS-tahw ot-FAR-ti v MAH-yoo.
The shop was opened in May. — an event; somebody opened it
Rule of thumb: if you could add przez kogoś ("by someone") and it still makes sense, it is a passive. If not, it is a state.
2️⃣ The się impersonal — everyday Polish
This is what Poles actually say. No subject, no agent, third person singular, and się doing the work. English reaches for "one", "you", "people", or its own passive.
się + verb in 3rd person singular
mówi się — one says / it is said
je się — one eats / is eaten
nie pali się — no smoking
mówi się — one says / it is said
je się — one eats / is eaten
nie pali się — no smoking
Tu mówi się po polsku.
too MOO-vee sheh poh POL-skoo.
Polish is spoken here.
W Polsce je się dużo chleba.
f POL-stseh yeh sheh DOO-zhoh HLEH-bah.
A lot of bread is eaten in Poland. — note the genitive after dużo
Tu się nie pali.
too sheh nyeh PAH-lee.
No smoking here. — how prohibitions are actually worded on signs
Jak się to mówi po polsku?
yahk sheh toh MOO-vee poh POL-skoo?
How do you say that in Polish? — worth learning whole; you will use it constantly
Się is mobile. Tu się nie pali and Tu nie pali się are both grammatical, but Polish dislikes ending a clause on się where it can be avoided, and it never starts one. Put it early rather than late.
3️⃣ The -no / -to impersonal — the report form
Past tense only, no subject, no gender, no number. This is the voice of news reports, history books and official accounts: something was done, and who did it is not the point.
take the passive participle → replace the ending with -o
zbudowany → zbudowano · otwarty → otwarto
czytany → czytano · powiedziany → powiedziano
znaleziony → znaleziono
zbudowany → zbudowano · otwarty → otwarto
czytany → czytano · powiedziany → powiedziano
znaleziony → znaleziono
The form never changes — not for gender, not for number. Zbudowano covers "it was built", "they were built", "he was built", all of it.
Zbudowano nowy most.
zboo-doh-VAH-noh NOH-vi most.
A new bridge was built. — note most stays accusative, as if there were still a subject
Otwarto nową restaurację.
ot-FAR-toh NOH-vohm res-tow-RAH-tsyeh.
A new restaurant was opened.
Powiedziano nam prawdę.
poh-vyeh-DZHAH-noh nahm PRAHV-deh.
We were told the truth.
Znaleziono zgubione klucze.
znah-leh-ZHOH-noh zgoo-BYOH-neh KLOO-cheh.
The lost keys were found. — with a passive participle as the adjective
Czytano jego wiersze przez wiele lat.
chi-TAH-noh YEH-goh VYER-sheh pshes VYEH-leh laht.
His poems were read for many years. — imperfective, so a long stretch
The object stays in the accusative. This is the detail that marks a confident B2 writer. Zbudowano nowy most — most is accusative, exactly as it would be in Zbudowali nowy most. The subject vanished; the object did not get promoted. English does the opposite ("a bridge was built" — bridge is now the subject), so this needs deliberate unlearning.
🎯 Which one should you use?
| Situation | Reach for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Formal letter, naming who acted | zostać + participle | only the true passive can take przez + agent |
| A general truth or custom | się | no time reference, no actor |
| A rule or prohibition on a sign | się | this is the idiomatic form |
| Reporting a past event, actor irrelevant | -no / -to | the register of news and history |
| Describing how something is | być + participle | a state, not an action |
| Casual speech | się, or just 3rd person plural | Mówią, że… — "they say" — is often the most natural of all |
That last row matters more than it looks. Polish frequently avoids the passive altogether by using a bare third-person plural: Zbudowali nowy most ("they built a new bridge") with no particular "they" in mind. Overusing the formal passive is itself a register error — it reads as translated English.
🧪 Check yourself
| Prompt | Answer |
|---|---|
| Rewrite as a true passive: Anna napisała list. | List został napisany przez Annę. |
| Rewrite with -no: Otworzyli nową szkołę. | Otwarto nową szkołę. — object stays accusative |
| Rewrite with się: "Bread is eaten here." | Tu je się chleb. |
| State or passive? Drzwi są zamknięte. | State — the doors are shut. The event would be Drzwi zostały zamknięte. |
| Fix: ✗ Szkoła został zbudowany. | Szkoła została zbudowana. — feminine agreement throughout |
| Fix: ✗ Zbudowano nowy most został. | Zbudowano nowy most. — -no is already the whole verb; no być/zostać |
📌 Where this shows up in the exam
All three constructions are named in the B2 standard (Dz.U. 2016 poz. 405, annex II F) under strony and formy bezosobowe, both marked w ograniczonym zakresie.
| Module | How it appears |
|---|---|
| Reading | Press texts run on -no/-to and the się impersonal. Misreading Otwarto as an adjective loses the sentence. |
| Grammatical correctness | Transformation tasks: rewrite an active sentence as a passive, or the reverse. Agreement of the participle is the marked point. |
| Writing | A list urzędowy or sprawozdanie written entirely in the active voice reads as too informal for the task. |