B2-26 · Describe a completed state with sein
Money and finance
Distinguish Zustandspassiv with sein from an action passive with werden in fictional account and payment situations.
About 5 minutes to read · 13 quiz questions
01
The result is already there
Zustandspassiv uses sein plus a past participle to describe a resulting state. Das Konto ist gesperrt describes the account's current status. Das Konto wird gesperrt describes the action of blocking it.
Das Konto ist gesperrt.
The account is blocked.
Die Rechnung ist beglichen.
The bill is settled.
Die Schulden sind beglichen.
The debts are settled.
Der Betrag ist überwiesen.
The amount has been transferred.
These invented examples teach language about accounts and payments, not investment advice. Gesperrt means blocked, überwiesen transferred and beglichen settled or paid.
02
Action and state have different focuses
An action passive says what is happening: Der Antrag wird geprüft. A state passive describes a result: Der Antrag ist geprüft. Time expressions can make the intended focus clear, but the form itself carries the distinction.
Gestern war das Konto noch gesperrt.
Yesterday the account was still blocked.
Die Rechnungen waren bereits beglichen.
The bills were already settled.
Der Antrag ist vollständig ausgefüllt.
The application is completely filled in.
Die Unterlagen sind unterschrieben.
The documents are signed.
A past state uses war or waren: Das Konto war gesperrt. A completed passive action uses ist ... worden. Do not automatically add worden when you only want to describe the state.
03
A state inside a report
In a dass-clause, put the finite form of sein last: dass das Konto gesperrt ist. The participle comes before it. In formal reports, this compactly states the status at the relevant time.
Eva bestätigt, dass die Rechnung beglichen ist.
Eva confirms that the bill is settled.
Ben sieht, dass die Unterlagen unterschrieben sind.
Ben sees that the documents are signed.
Die Bank meldet, dass das Konto gesperrt war.
The bank reports that the account was blocked.
Eva weiß, dass der Betrag überwiesen ist.
Eva knows that the amount has been transferred.
Bezahlt and beglichen both describe paid or settled items in these examples. A statement that an amount is transferred concerns a fictional transaction and says nothing about real banking processing times.
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