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🔄 Passive Voice (Passiv)

How to express actions where the subject receives the action — process passive and state passive

B1 12 min read 6 sections

Active vs. Passive

In an active sentence, the subject performs the action: "Der Lehrer liest das Buch" (The teacher reads the book). In a passive sentence, the subject receives the action: "Das Buch wird gelesen" (The book is being read). The focus shifts from who does it to what is done. German has TWO types of passive voice: • Vorgangspassiv (process passive) — formed with "werden" — describes an action happening • Zustandspassiv (state passive) — formed with "sein" — describes the result of a completed action

Active: Der Koch macht die Suppe. Passive: Die Suppe wird gemacht.Active: The cook makes the soup. Passive: The soup is being made.

Tip: The passive is used much more in formal German writing than in everyday speech. In conversation, Germans often prefer active constructions or "man" (one/they): "Man macht die Suppe" instead of "Die Suppe wird gemacht."

Vorgangspassiv (werden + Past Participle)

The process passive describes an action in progress. It is formed with the conjugated form of "werden" + past participle. The past participle goes to the end of the sentence. Important: in the Perfekt tense, the passive uses "worden" (NOT "geworden").

Tense	Formula	Example	Translation
Präsens	wird + PP	Das Buch wird gelesen.	The book is being read.
Präteritum	wurde + PP	Das Buch wurde gelesen.	The book was read.
Perfekt	ist + PP + worden	Das Buch ist gelesen worden.	The book has been read.
Plusquamperfekt	war + PP + worden	Das Buch war gelesen worden.	The book had been read.
Futur I	wird + PP + werden	Das Buch wird gelesen werden.	The book will be read.

Tip: The Perfekt passive is the trickiest form. Remember: "worden" (not "geworden") is used exclusively in the passive. "Er ist Arzt geworden" (He became a doctor) is NOT passive — that's the verb "werden" meaning "to become."

Conjugation of "werden" in Present Tense

Since "werden" is the backbone of the process passive, you need to know its present-tense conjugation well. It is irregular:

Person	werden	Passive Example
ich	werde	Ich werde gefragt. (I am being asked.)
du	wirst	Du wirst gefragt. (You are being asked.)
er/sie/es	wird	Er wird gefragt. (He is being asked.)
wir	werden	Wir werden gefragt. (We are being asked.)
ihr	werdet	Ihr werdet gefragt. (You all are being asked.)
sie/Sie	werden	Sie werden gefragt. (They/You are being asked.)

Tip: Notice the stem-vowel change: e→i in "du wirst" and "er wird." The Präteritum forms are regular: wurde, wurdest, wurde, wurden, wurdet, wurden.

Zustandspassiv (sein + Past Participle)

The Zustandspassiv describes a state that results from a completed action. It uses "sein" (not "werden") + past participle. The difference from the Vorgangspassiv is subtle but important:

Type	German	English	Focus
Vorgangspassiv	Die Tür wird geschlossen.	The door is being closed.	Action in progress
Zustandspassiv	Die Tür ist geschlossen.	The door is closed.	Resulting state
Vorgangspassiv	Das Auto wird repariert.	The car is being repaired.	Action in progress
Zustandspassiv	Das Auto ist repariert.	The car is repaired.	Resulting state
Vorgangspassiv	Der Tisch wird gedeckt.	The table is being set.	Action in progress
Zustandspassiv	Der Tisch ist gedeckt.	The table is set.	Resulting state

Tip: Think of it this way: "Die Tür wird geschlossen" = someone is closing the door right now. "Die Tür ist geschlossen" = the door is already closed (someone closed it earlier). The Zustandspassiv looks like a normal "sein" sentence with an adjective.

Agent with "von" and "durch"

In a passive sentence, the agent (who or what performs the action) can optionally be included. German uses two prepositions for this: • "von" + Dative — for a personal agent (a person or organization doing the action) • "durch" + Accusative — for a means, instrument, or impersonal cause

Preposition	Use	Example	Translation
von + Dative	Personal agent	Das Buch wird von dem Lehrer gelesen.	The book is being read by the teacher.
von + Dative	Personal agent	Der Brief wurde von meiner Mutter geschrieben.	The letter was written by my mother.
durch + Accusative	Means / instrument	Die Stadt wurde durch das Feuer zerstört.	The city was destroyed by (means of) fire.
durch + Accusative	Means / instrument	Die Nachricht wurde durch einen Boten überbracht.	The message was delivered by (means of) a messenger.

Tip: "Von" is by far more common. Use "durch" when emphasizing the instrument or means, not the person. In many cases, the agent is simply omitted: "Das Buch wurde geschrieben" (The book was written) — you don't always need to say by whom.

Impersonal Passive

German has a unique construction: the impersonal passive. It creates passive sentences from intransitive verbs (verbs without a direct object). This is impossible in English but very natural in German. The placeholder "es" is used in position 1, but disappears if another element takes that position.

German	Translation	Note
Es wird getanzt.	There is dancing.	"es" in position 1
Hier wird getanzt.	There is dancing here.	"es" disappears when another word leads
Es wurde viel gelacht.	There was a lot of laughing.	Intransitive verb "lachen"
In der Küche wird gekocht.	There is cooking in the kitchen.	No "es" needed
Es darf hier nicht geraucht werden.	Smoking is not allowed here.	With modal verb

Es wird hier getanzt. / Hier wird getanzt.There is dancing here. / Dancing happens here.

Tip: The impersonal passive is common on signs and in rules: "Hier wird nicht geraucht" (No smoking here). It's also used to describe general activities: "Auf der Party wurde viel getanzt" (There was lots of dancing at the party).

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🔄 Passive Voice (Passiv)

Active vs. Passive

Vorgangspassiv (werden + Past Participle)

Conjugation of "werden" in Present Tense

Zustandspassiv (sein + Past Participle)

Agent with "von" and "durch"

Impersonal Passive

Practice with Interactive Quizzes

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