The passive voice (Passiv) is one of the important pieces of knowledge that learners need to master in German grammar. The passive voice is used to emphasize the action being performed.
The passive voice (Passiv) is one of the important topics that learners need to master in German grammar. The passive voice is used to emphasize the action being performed. The subject of an active sentence (Aktiv), when converted to a passive sentence, is used with von or durch. Today's article will help you distinguish between these two cases.
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1. How to convert from active (Aktiv) to passive (Passiv)
- Active sentence: S + V + O +...
→ S: Subject (can refer to a person or a thing)
→ V: main verb
→ O: object referring to a thing
- General transformation rules:
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The object referring to a thing becomes the subject in the passive sentence.
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The main verb is conjugated in Partizip II
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In different tenses, the passive sentence structure with werden differs
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When we want to add the agent (S) performing the action to the passive sentence, we add von or durch
Example:
a. Active sentence: Mein Vater repariert das Auto. (Präsens - present tense)
Passive sentence: Das Auto wird von meinem Vater repariert.
b. Active sentence: Mein Vater reparierte das Auto. (Präteritum - past tense)
Passive sentence: Das Auto wurde von meinem Vater repariert.
→ The object referring to a thing das Auto becomes the subject in the passive sentence. The main verb reparieren is conjugated in Partizip II as repariert. Werden in the present tense with the subject das Auto is conjugated as werde, werden in the past tense with the subject das Auto is conjugated as wurde. The agent performing the action is mein Vater, which after adding von becomes von meinem Vater.
2. Distinguishing von and durch:
von | durch |
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a. Daniel liest ein Buch. (Daniel reads a book.) ⇒ Ein Buch wird von Daniel gelesen. (A book is read by Daniel.) → agent: Daniel (a person's name)
b. Meine Mutter putzt oft mein Haus. (My mother often cleans my house.) ⇒ Mein Haus wird oft von meiner Mutter geputzt. (My house is often cleaned by my mother.) → agent: meine Mutter in Dativ → meiner Mutter | a. Der Sturm zerstört die Brücke. (The storm destroys the bridge.) ⇒ Die Brücke wurde durch den Sturm zerstört. (The bridge was destroyed by the storm.) → agent: der Sturm in Akkusativ → den Sturm
b. Der Wind hat den Blumentopf gebrochen. (The wind broke the flower pot.) ⇒ Der Blumentopf ist durch die Katze gebrochen worden. (The flower pot was broken by the cat.) → agent: die Katze in Akkusativ → die Katze |
***Note: Since the passive voice aims to emphasize the action being performed rather than the agent, von/durch… can be omitted from the sentence.
Knowledge test
Passive sentences with von and durch in German
- 1.
Meine Freude kaufen Lebensmittel.
- 2.
Wir waschen das neue Auto.