The Passive Voice of German Verbs

Passive Voice

So far in this course, the examples have mostly used the active voice. In this lesson, you’ll learn about the passive voice.

The passive voice (Passiv in German) shifts the focus from the person performing an action to the action itself or its result. It has two main forms: the processual passive (Vorgangspassiv) and the statal passive (Zustandspassiv).

The passive is used when the doer of the action is unknown, or the focus is on the action or result. Generally, it is better to use the active voice and save the passive voice for cases where it’s necessary.

Vorgangspassiv

This form of the passive emphasizes the process or ongoing action. It is formed using the auxiliary verb werden (to become) and the Past Participle of the main verb.

As an example in English, the sentence ‘The mechanic repairs the car’ in the active voice. The mechanic is the doer of the action. The sentence ‘the car is being repaired’ in in the passive voice, since the person doing the action is not mentioned. The car is the object of the active sentence, but in the passive sentence, the car has become the subject of the sentence.

The following table shows the conjugation of the verb werden for the present and preterite.

	Present	Preterite
ich	werde	wurde
du	wirst	wurdest
er/sie/es	wird	wurde
wir	werden	wurden
ihr	werdet	wurdet
sie/Sie	werden	wurden

Examples

Das Auto wird repariert.	The car is being repaired.
Das Auto wurde repariert.	The car was repaired.
Das Auto ist repariert worden.	The car has been repaired.
Der Brief wird geschrieben.	The letter is being written.
Der Brief wurde geschrieben.	The letter was written.
Der Brief ist geschrieben worden.	The letter has been written.
Der Brief wird geschrieben werden.	The letter will be written.
Das Haus wird gebaut.	The house is being built.
Das Haus wurde gebaut.	The house was built.
Das Haus ist gebaut worden.	The house has been built.
Das Haus wird gebaut werden.	The house will be built.

The doer of the action can still be mentioned in a sentence in the passive voice by using the preposition von followed by the the person or thing doing the action in the dative case. For example, Die Suppe wird von dem Koch gekocht (The soup is being cooked by the chef). The focus of this sentence is on the cooking of the soup, not who’s doing the cooking.

The preposition durch plus the accusitive case is used for non-personal causes. For example, Das Haus wurde durch einen Brand zerstört. (The house was destroyed by a fire.)

Passive with Modal Verbs

When a modal verb such as können, müssen, sollen is present, the structure changes slightly, requiring both the Past Participle and the infinitive of werden.

Active Sentence	Passive Sentence
Man muss die Aufgabe heute erledigen.	Die Aufgabe muss heute erledigt werden. (The task must be completed today.)
Er kann die Tür nicht öffnen.	Die Tür kann nicht geöffnet werden. (The door cannot be opened.)

The Statal Passive (Zustandspassiv)

In contrast to the Processive Passive (Vorgangspassiv) which focuses on an action, the Statal Passive (Zustandspassiv) focuses on the result or the state following an action. So if you want the focus to be on the action, use the Vorgangspassiv. If you want the focus to be on the result or state following and action, use the Zustandspassiv.

Zustandspassiv is formed using the auxiliary verb sein (to be) and the Past Participle (Partizip II) of the main verb.

Feature	Vorgangspassiv (Process)	Zustandspassiv (State)
Focus	The action/process	The result/condition
Auxiliary	werden (to become)	sein (to be)
Example	Die Tür wird geöffnet. (The door is being opened.)	Die Tür ist geöffnet. (The door is open / The door is in an opened state.)

Examples

Das Problem war gelöst.	The problem was solved.
Die Fenster sind geschlossen.	The windows are closed.
Das Haus ist gebaut.	The house is built.
Der Brief ist geschrieben.	The letter is written