Passive sentences with es and passive alternative forms with man, jemand

Passive structures are everywhere in German: in news, announcements, and signs you constantly see sentences like „Es wird gebaut“ or „Hier darf geparkt werden“. This lesson explains how Passiv with „es“ works and how „man“ and „jemand“ are used as active alternatives to passive.

1Short review: werden-Passiv

The personal Passiv with „werden“ focuses on the action or its result.

• Aktiv: „Der Lehrer erklärt die Grammatik.“
• Passiv: „Die Grammatik wird (vom Lehrer) erklärt.“ (The grammar is explained.)

Basic patterns:

• Präsens: Subjekt + werden + Partizip II
• Präteritum: Subjekt + wurden + Partizip II
• Perfekt: Subjekt + ist + Partizip II + worden

Example:

• „Der Brief wird morgen geschickt.“ (The letter will be sent tomorrow.)
• „Der Brief wurde gestern geschickt.“ (The letter was sent yesterday.)

2Impersonal Passiv with „es“

Impersonal Passiv has no real content subject; the action matters, not „who“ or „what“.

Typical structure:

• „Es wird … + Partizip II.“

2.1 Verbs without an Akkusativ object

Many verbs only take Dativ or prepositional objects. They cannot form a normal Passiv with a subject, so German often uses the impersonal Passiv with „es“.

• „Es wird hier viel gearbeitet.“
• „Hier wird viel gearbeitet.“

Both are correct.

2.2 Passiv after impersonal expressions

After expressions like „es heißt“ or „es wird gesagt“ you also often find impersonal Passiv:

• „Es wird gesagt, dass die Mieten steigen.“ (It is said that rents are rising.)
• „Es heißt, dass bald gebaut wird.“ (It is said that construction will start soon.)

3Alternative active form with „man“

Instead of a Passiv sentence, everyday German very often uses active sentences with „man“. „Man“ is an impersonal pronoun meaning “people in general / one”.

Effect: With „man“ the sentence sounds more direct and less formal than with Passiv.

3.1 Position of „man“

„Man“ is the grammatical subject and behaves like „er“ in word order:

• „Man sagt, dass …“ (People say that …)
• „In diesem Kurs lernt man viel.“ (You / one learns a lot in this course.)

4Alternative active form with „jemand“

„Jemand“ means “someone, some person” and refers to one unknown person. It is less general than „man“.

For general rules or permissions, „man“ is better than „jemand“:

• Passiv: „Hier darf geparkt werden.“ (Parking is allowed here.)
• unnatural: „Hier darf jemand parken.“ (Somebody is allowed to park here.)
• better: „Hier darf man parken.“ (You / one is allowed to park here.)

5Comparison: Passiv – man – jemand

Remember:

• „es wird …“: impersonal Passiv, focus on the action.
• „man …“: general statements, very common in spoken German.
• „jemand …“: one unknown individual.

summaryEn: After this lesson you can form impersonal Passiv sentences with „es“ and confidently transform them into natural Aktiv sentences with „man“ or „jemand“.