Passive Voice
Learn to form and use the German passive voice (Passiv) with 'werden' to shift focus from who does an action to what is done. Master both process passive and state passive.
1Introduction to Passive Voice
The passive voice in German emphasizes the action or the person/thing affected by the action, rather than who performs it. German has two types of passive: Vorgangspassiv (process passive, formed with "werden") and Zustandspassiv (state passive, formed with "sein"). The process passive describes an action happening, while the state passive describes the result of an action. Most of the time, you'll use the process passive with "werden".
Examples
Das Buch wird gelesen.
The book is being read.
Process passive: action in progress
Das Buch ist gelesen.
The book is read. (has been read)
State passive: result of reading
Der Brief wurde geschrieben.
The letter was written.
Process passive in past tense
Das Fenster ist geöffnet.
The window is open.
State passive: current state
2Forming Present Passive
The present passive is formed with the present tense of "werden" plus the past participle (Partizip II). The subject of the passive sentence is what would be the object in the active sentence. Conjugation: ich werde, du wirst, er/sie/es wird, wir werden, ihr werdet, sie/Sie werden + past participle at the end.
Examples
Die Tür wird geöffnet.
The door is being opened.
wird + past participle (geöffnet)
Das Essen wird gekocht.
The food is being cooked.
Focus on what's happening to the food
Die Briefe werden geschrieben.
The letters are being written.
werden (plural) + past participle
Hier wird Deutsch gesprochen.
German is spoken here.
Common impersonal passive
3Past Passive (Präteritum and Perfekt)
For past passive, you can use either Präteritum or Perfekt of werden. Präteritum passive uses "wurde" + past participle. Perfekt passive uses "ist" + past participle + "worden" (special form of "geworden"). Präteritum is more common in written German, while Perfekt is often used in spoken German, just like with active voice.
Examples
Das Haus wurde 1990 gebaut.
The house was built in 1990.
Präteritum passive: wurde + participle
Der Kuchen wurde gegessen.
The cake was eaten.
wurde + past participle
Das Bild ist gemalt worden.
The picture has been painted.
Perfekt passive: ist + participle + worden
Die Arbeit ist erledigt worden.
The work has been completed.
ist ... worden for perfect passive
4Mentioning the Agent (von + Dative)
If you want to mention who or what performs the action (the agent), use "von" + dative. However, passive is often used precisely to avoid mentioning the agent, so this is less common. For instruments or means (what was used to do something), use "mit" or "durch" instead of "von".
Examples
Das Buch wurde von Goethe geschrieben.
The book was written by Goethe.
von + dative for the agent
Der Brief wird von mir geschrieben.
The letter is being written by me.
von mir = by me
Das Fenster wurde mit einem Stein zerbrochen.
The window was broken with a stone.
mit for instruments
Die Stadt wurde durch ein Erdbeben zerstört.
The city was destroyed by an earthquake.
durch for causes/forces
5When to Use Passive
Use passive when: the action is more important than the actor, the actor is unknown or unimportant, in formal/scientific writing, or for general statements. Avoid overusing it - active voice is usually more direct. German also uses impersonal passive ("es wird getanzt" - there is dancing) which has no direct equivalent in English and is common in spoken German.
Examples
Mein Auto wurde gestohlen!
My car was stolen!
Agent unknown - natural use of passive
In Deutschland wird viel Bier getrunken.
A lot of beer is drunk in Germany.
General statement about Germany
Hier wird nicht geraucht!
No smoking here!
Impersonal passive for rules
Es wurde viel gelacht.
There was a lot of laughing.
Impersonal passive with es