To say that something is going on without saying who is doing it, Dutch uses _er_ + a form of _worden_ + a past participle (the verb form you know from _ik heb gewerkt_). _Er wordt gedanst_ means "there is dancing" or "people are dancing". You meet it on signs, in the news and in work emails, and in everyday speech whenever the activity matters more than the people.
The pattern
Start with _er_, put a singular form of _worden_ in second place and the past participle at the end: _Er wordt hard gewerkt_.
- Present: _Er wordt hard gewerkt._ Simple past: _Er werd veel gelachen._
- It works with verbs that have no object (_dansen_, _lachen_, _werken_) and with verbs whose object is not important (_betalen_, _eten_, _bellen_).
- With a [modal verb](#/lesson/modal-verbs) (a helper like _moeten_, _mogen_ or _kunnen_), the modal takes second place and _worden_ goes to the end as an infinitive: _Er moet nog betaald worden_. The order _worden betaald_ is also correct.
- In the perfect, _worden_ drops out and _zijn_ takes over: _Er is hard gewerkt_ (see [The passive in the perfect](#/lesson/passive-perfect)).
- When another phrase starts the sentence, _er_ comes after the verb, and you can often leave it out: _Hier wordt (er) niet gerookt._
Examples
| Er wordt bij ons op de afdeling hard gewerkt. | People work hard in our department. |
|---|---|
| Op de verjaardag van Daan werd er veel gelachen. | There was a lot of laughing at Daan's birthday. |
| Er wordt aangebeld. Verwacht jij een pakketje? | Someone's ringing the bell. Are you expecting a parcel? |
| Er moet nog betaald worden. Wie regelt dat? | Someone still has to pay. Who's taking care of it? |
| Er mag in de stiltecoupé niet gebeld worden. | You aren't allowed to make phone calls in the quiet carriage. |
| Hier wordt niet gerookt. | No smoking here. |
| In de kantine wordt vooral over het weer gepraat. | In the canteen, people mostly talk about the weather. |
| Op Schiphol wordt vandaag gestaakt. | There is a strike at Schiphol today. |
| Ik hoorde dat er bij de buren tot laat gefeest werd. | I heard the neighbours were partying until late. |
Why it works this way
Dutch sentences like to have something in the subject's position. In an ordinary passive, the thing the action happens to is the subject: _De brug wordt gerepareerd_. With _dansen_ or _lachen_ there is no such thing, and you are deliberately not naming the people. So _er_ fills the empty slot. It has no meaning of its own, a bit like "there" in "there is": it simply keeps the sentence in shape.
That explains the details. With no real subject, _worden_ stays singular: _wordt_, _werd_. And when a phrase like _hier_ or _op Schiphol_ already stands in front of the verb, the sentence already feels complete, so _er_ is often dropped.
English has no direct match, so translations use "people", "someone" or "there is". Dutch could also say _ze staken_ or use _men_ (see [people in general](#/lesson/people-in-general)), but the passive keeps the spotlight on the activity. That neutral tone makes it popular on signs, in notices and in emails: Priya's IT department might write _Er wordt gewerkt aan een oplossing_ when the system is down. In the present it can also sound like a firm order. A parent who says _En nu wordt er geslapen!_ is not describing the bedroom.
Remember: _er_ is an empty chair at the table. The activity is clearly going on, but nobody sits in the chair, so nobody gets named and _worden_ stays singular.
Watch out
- Not: _Het wordt hier hard gewerkt_ Say: _Er wordt hier hard gewerkt_ (the placeholder is _er_, not _het_, even though German uses _es_)
- Not: _Er wordt gewerkt hard_ Say: _Er wordt hard gewerkt_ (the participle goes to the end)
- Not: _Er moet nog betaald wordt_ Say: _Er moet nog betaald worden_ (after a modal, _worden_ is an infinitive)
- Not: _Er wordde veel gelachen_ Say: _Er werd veel gelachen_ (the past of _worden_ is irregular)
Quick check
- Fill in the simple past of _worden_: _Gisteren ... er op het feest van Sanne tot drie uur 's nachts gedanst._
- Choose _Er_ or _Het_: _... wordt in de stiltecoupé niet gebeld._
- Fix the sentence by changing one word: _Er mag op het perron niet gefietst wordt._
- Fill in the past participle of _vergaderen_: _Bij het team van Fatima wordt er op dinsdag altijd lang ..._
Answers
- _werd_ (the simple past of _worden_ is irregular)
- _Er_ (this pattern uses _er_ as the placeholder, never _het_)
- _Er mag op het perron niet gefietst worden._ (after a modal, _worden_ stays an infinitive)
- _vergaderd_ (no _ge-_ because of the unstressed prefix _ver-_, and _-d_ because the stem ends in _r_)
Use it today
Describe a place you know without naming anyone: write three sentences about your office, your street or your gym with _er wordt_ or _er werd_, such as _In de sportschool wordt er veel gezweet_. Then add one house rule with a modal, for example _Er mag hier niet gerookt worden_.