Hiša se gradi, hiša je zgrajena: the two passive voices
The nature and production units almost never name the doer: waste gets sorted, products get checked, houses get torn down. Who exactly — does not matter, and Slovenian, like English's 'it is being done', hides the doer. It has two ways, and they must not be confused. For example: “Odpadki se ločujejo, nevarni pa se oddajo posebej” — Waste is sorted, and hazardous waste is deposited separately. A rule from the…
How it works
The nature and production units almost never name the doer: waste gets sorted, products get checked, houses get torn down. Who exactly — does not matter, and Slovenian, like English's 'it is being done', hides the doer. It has two ways, and they must not be confused.
The first: the se-passive. The verb in the third person plus se: Hiša se gradi — the house is being built, Odpadki se ločujejo — waste is sorted, To se dela drugače — this is done differently. The most frequent way, and it lives with the imperfective aspect: process, rule, custom.
The trap: the same se can be plain reflexivity. Otrok se umiva — the child washes himself, Posoda se pomiva v stroju — the dishes get washed in the machine. Only sense tells: the dishes do not wash themselves.
The second: biti plus a participle in -n/-t. Hiša je zgrajena — the house is built, Izdelek je preverjen — the product is checked, Vrata so zaprta — the door is closed. This is the result, the state after the action, and it takes the perfective. The participle agrees in gender and number, like an adjective.
How to choose. The process is running — se: Cesta se popravlja (the road is being repaired right now). There is a result — biti: Cesta je popravljena (the road is repaired). English leans on 'is being repaired' versus 'is repaired' for the same line, so you already own the intuition.
The agent, if it is needed after all, goes with the preposition s strani in clerical prose (odobreno s strani komisije) — but live Slovenian prefers to redo it as the impersonal plural: Komisija je odobrila. Simple advice: if you want to name the agent, you do not want the passive.
The third way, impersonal. Third plural without a subject: Pravijo, da … — they say that…, Gradijo novo cesto — they're building a new road. English does exactly the same, and it is the simplest way out when in doubt.
Table
| form | example | the English | when |
|---|---|---|---|
| se + verb | hiša se gradi | the house is being built | process |
| se + verb | odpadki se ločujejo | waste is sorted | rule |
| biti + -n/-t | hiša je zgrajena | the house is built | result |
| biti + -n/-t | izdelek je preverjen | the product is checked | state |
| 3rd plural without a subject | gradijo cesto | they are building a road | the doer does not matter |
| 3rd plural without a subject | pravijo, da | they say that | someone else’s words |
| reflexive | otrok se umiva | the child is washing himself | not a passive! |
| clerical | s strani komisije | approved by the commission | paperwork only |
By example
- Odpadki se ločujejo, nevarni pa se oddajo posebejWaste is sorted, and hazardous waste is deposited separately
- Most je zgrajen, cesta pa se še popravljaThe bridge is built, and the road is still being repaired
- Gradijo novo šolo, staro pa bodo podrliThey are building a new school, and the old one will be torn down
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Hiša se gradi, hiša je zgrajena: how does it work in Slovenian?
The nature and production units almost never name the doer: waste gets sorted, products get checked, houses get torn down. Who exactly — does not matter, and Slovenian, like English's 'it is being done', hides the doer. It has two ways, and they must not be confused.
What does it look like in an example sentence Slovenian?
“Odpadki se ločujejo, nevarni pa se oddajo posebej” — Waste is sorted, and hazardous waste is deposited separately. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.