Passive Voice

In English, we use the verb to be plus the past participle to form the passive voice. In Icelandic, you can express this in similar ways, but the auxiliary verb can vera (be) or verða (become). There is also a way where there is no auxilary verb used, but then the main verb changes.

Using vera (past tense)

Húsin voru eyðilöggð af fólkinu

The houses were destroyed by the people

Using vera (present tense) usually means you need to use the form er verið að

Það er verið að byggja húsið

The house is being built

Það er verið að fagna þjóðhátíðardegi Íslands

Iceland's national day is being celebrated

When you only use vera in the present tense it works like this

Það er haldið upp á þjóðhátíðardag Íslands þann 17.júní

Iceland's national day is celebrated on the 17th of June

Danska er töluð í Danmörku

Danish is spoken in Denmark

Það er barist hart í þessu stríði

This war is fought fiercely

But in some contexts it can mean something is actually finished. Especially if the verb ends the sentence

Húsið er byggt

The house is built

Would normally indicate the construction of the house being finished

Using verða always indicates it will happen in the future

Húsin verða eyðilöggð af fólkinu

The houses will be destroyed by the people

Ég verð rekinn úr vinnunni

I will be fired from my job

Not using an auxilary verb

Húsin eyðilögðust í jarðskjálftanum

The houses were destroyed in the earthquake

Berin gerjast í tunnunni

The berries are fermenting in the barrel

The auxiliary verb gives us information about the time of the action, and the participle tells us about what happened.

So this means that we just have to know the conjugation of vera/verða in order to make any passive sentence in Icelandic.

Húsið verður byggt.
The house will be built.

In the present tense you can use "er verið" (the verb vera twice in succession in different forms) to indicate the passive voice. It is like saying "is being" in English.

Það er verið að byggja húsið.

The house is being built.

But you could also not use an auxilary verb and say: Húsið byggist (present). Húsið byggðist (past)

This is a way of saying how something is or was happening, where it is/was happening in a passive way. This is generally the way of saying something happens without agency (or at least without concious agency). This is a form often used for natural processes, such as the weather, decomposition, fermentation, drying, cooling and so on.

Let's look at the difference of the subject doing something actively or something passively happening to the subject, where we use the passive form without an auxilary verb.

Ég kasta boltanum milli veggja

I throw the ball between walls

Boltinn kastast milli veggja

The ball is being thrown (bouncing) between walls

Ég drap fluguna

I killed the fly

Flugan drapst úr súrefnisskorti

The fly died from a lack of oxygen

Ég drep oft flugur

I often kill flies

Ég drepst úr leiðindum

I am dying of boredom

Maðurinn kastaði mér niður af þakinu

The man threw me off the roof

Ég kastaðist af þakinu í vindinum

I was thrown off the roof in the wind

Læknirinn læknaði mig

The doctor healed me

Sárið á fætinum læknaðist á einni viku

The wound on the foot healed in a week

Note how in this form, past or present, the change to the verbs there is always an added -st at the end

You can add the verb er (is) with the adjective að (to) to this structure in the present tense. The meaning remains the same. It is a bit less authentically Icelandic way of saying things which has been getting more common because of influence from English. If you use it in the past tense var the main verb will change to the present tense.

Boltinn er að kastast milli veggja

The ball is being thrown (bouncing) between walls

Ég var að drepast úr leiðindum í viku

I was dying of boredom for a week

It turns out that, stylistically, Icelandic uses the passive significantly less than English does.

Instead of:	Hér er töluð íslenska.
	Icelandic is spoken here.
try:	Hér talar maður íslensku.
	One speaks Icelandic here. (Icelandic is spoken here.)

There's one other structure that sort of overlaps with the passive voice semantically.

If we use láta as a helping verb (plus infinitive), it has the sense of "having something done" without being involved. Kind of like a passive related to yourself, as you're not an active participant in the events.

Ég læt gera við bílinn minn.
I'm having my car repaired.

Hann lætur þvo rúðurnar sínar. He's having his windows washed.

Naggrísinn lætur klappa sér.

The guinea pig lets itself be petted.