PolishForums LIVE  /  Archives [3]    
   
Archives - 2010-2019 / Language  % width 5

Passive constructions in Polish


Vladdd  
26 Jul 2014 /  #1
Hello! Are there passive constructions in the Polish language with the verb "to have" like in English - I have bought, I have been etc.?
jon357  73 | 23224  
26 Jul 2014 /  #2
Neither of those are passive structures.

But in answer, yes, Polish does have passive forms.
gumishu  15 | 6193  
26 Jul 2014 /  #3
'have done' is not a passive construction - 'is done' is (also 'was done' and 'has been done')

Polish uses passive construction mostly in formal register - Ta fabryka została sprzedana inwestorom z Wielkiej Brytanii. = This factory has been sold to investors from the UK.

zostać (more or less to become) form is very formal - using być forms is less formal - Czy ten samochód jest już sprzedany? Is this car already sold

there is also so called impersonal construction - you can rephrase the former example to sound like this - Tą fabrykę sprzedano inwestorom z W. Brytanii. (translates exactly the same into English)
OP Vladdd  
26 Jul 2014 /  #4
Oh, OK, I guess I made a mistake with the "passive" thing. Thank you for your answers. So there isn't a construction with the verb "to have" in Polish? I am from Macedonia, and in free time I'm researching on similarities in Slavic languages. Nothing professional, just curiosity. In our language there is a construction like this:

Imam odeno - I have been
Imam czytano - I have read
Imam kupeno - I have bought.
gumishu  15 | 6193  
26 Jul 2014 /  #5
So there isn't a construction with the verb "to have" in Polish?

well one can use such constuction: Masz zrobione zadanie? Have you got your homework done?

still it's very rarely used and not used to denote the present perfect tense like I have done - there is no such thing as the present perfect in Polish

Archives - 2010-2019 / Language / Passive constructions in PolishArchived