Passive Voice in Polish

The passive voice (strona bierna) in Polish is used to emphasize the action itself or the recipient of the action rather than the person performing it. Polish forms the passive voice by combining an auxiliary verb with a passive adjectival participle (imiesłów przymiotnikowy bierny) ending in -ny, -na, -ne, -ty, -ta, -te, which must agree in gender and number with the subject. There are two auxiliary verbs used: 'być' (to be) and 'zostać' (to become). The choice between them depends entirely on the aspect of the verb. Imperfective verbs take forms of 'być', while perfective verbs take 'zostać'.

For example, the imperfective 'Książka jest czytana' means 'The book is being read', while the perfective 'Książka została przeczytana' means 'The book has been read'. If the agent performing the action is mentioned, it is introduced by the preposition 'przez' followed by the accusative case, as in 'Książka została napisana przez pisarza'. In daily conversation, Polish speakers often prefer active voice constructions or impersonal reflexive forms (e.g. 'napisano', 'mówi się') over the formal passive voice, which is common in administrative and news contexts.