In German, just like in English, there is an active voice (Aktiv or Tätigkeitsform) and the passive voice (Passive or Leidensform).
In the active voice the agent (the thing or person that is carrying out the action) is the subject of the sentence. On the other hand, in the passive voice, the subject is the object (on which the action is carried out)
The passive voice is used when the agent is not very relevant or unknown. There are two types of passive in German:
- The processual passive (Vorgangspassiv)
Der Schrank wird geöffnet
The closet is in the process of being opened
- The statal passive (Zustandspassiv)
Der Schrank ist geöffnet
The closet is open
The processual passive (Vorgangpassiv)
As its name states, the processual passive is used for actions and is translated to English with the verb “to be” + the participle.
The construction of the processual passive is: “werden” + Partizip II
Die Zeitung wird von mir gelesen
The newspaper is being read by me
Conjugation
Präsens
| Active Voice |
Passive Voice |
| ich küsse
I kiss |
ich werde geküsst
I am kissed |
Präteritum
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| ich küsste
I kissed |
ich wurde geküsst
I was kissed |
Perfekt
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| ich habe geküsst
I have kissed |
ich bin geküsst worden
I have been kissed |
Plusquamperfekt
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| ich hatte geküsst
I had kissed |
ich war geküsst worden
I had been kissed |
Futur I
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| ich werde küssen
I will kiss |
ich werde geküsst werden
I will be kissed |
Futur II
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| ich werde geküsst haben
I will have kissed |
ich werde geküsst worden sein
I will have been kissed |
The processual passive with transitive verbs
You have to pay attention to when you change a sentence from active to passive because the accusative will end up as nominative and thus change its declension.
Ich esse gerade einen Käse
I am eating a cheese
Ein Käse wird gerade gegessen
A cheese is being eaten
The passive can’t be constructed:
- if the sentence is reflexive
Wir treffen uns um 11 Uhr
We will meet each other at 11
- if the verb in the sentence indicates possession: “haben”, “bekommen”, “kriegen”…
Ich habe ein Haus
I have a house
- if the sentence has the construction “es gibt”
Es gibt einen Brief für mich
There is a letter for me
- if the accusative is a measurement of quantity.
Die Hose kostet 40 Euros
The pants cost 40 Euros
Die Brücke misst 70 Meter
The bridge measures 70 meters
- if the accusative is a piece of clothing belonging to the subject
- if the accusative is a body part of the subject
- if the accusative is a circumstantial object in time
The processual passive with intransitive verbs
Some sentences have verbs without accusative that also can form the passive voice. The typical example of this is the verb “helfen”:
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| Juan hilft den Mitarbeitern
Juan helps his coworkers |
Den Mitarbeitern wird (es) (von Juan) geholfen
The coworkers are helped by Juan |
Note: we’re going to look at this with a bit more detail. The sentence could also be written as an impersonal clause:
Es wird den Mitarbeitern (von Juan) geholfen
Don’t be mistaken; the subject is the pronoun “es”. What happens usually is that it is omitted.
The processual passive with modal verbs
The modal verbs, just as they are, do not have passive voice. What happens is that modal verbs are accompanied by a full verb, and this full verb can have a passive voice.
It’s easier to see this with an example:
Active voice:
Er muss den Wein trinken
He has to drink the wine
Passive voice:
Der Wein muss von ihm getrunken werden
The wine has to be drunk by him
Präsens
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| ich muss küssen
I have to kiss |
ich muss geküsst werden
I have to be kissed |
Präteritum
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| ich musste küssen
I had to kiss |
ich musste geküsst werden
I had to be kissed |
Perfekt
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| ich habe küssen müssen
I had to kiss |
ich habe geküsst werden müssen
I had to be kissed |
Plusquamperfekt
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| ich hatte küssen müssen
I had to have kissed |
ich hatte geküsst werden müssen
I had to have been kissed |
Futur I
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| ich werde küssen müssen
I will have to kiss |
ich werde geküsst werden müssen
I will have to be kissed |
Futur II (very rarely used in the passive voice)
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| ich werde geküsst haben müssen
I will have to have kissed |
ich werde geküsst worden sein müssen
I will have to have been kissed |
Von / Durch
“Von” and “Durch” come before the agent.
The statal passive (Zustandspassiv)
As the name indicates, this type of passive is used to express a state. The construction of the passive of state is: “sein” + Partizip II.
Conjugation
Präsens
| Passive |
| ich bin verärgert
I am upset |
Präteritum
| Passive voice |
| ich war verärgert
I was upset |
Perfekt
| Passive voice |
| ich bin verärgert gewesen
I have been upset |
Plusquamperfekt
| Passive voice |
| ich war verärgert gewesen
I had been upset |
Futur I
| Passive voice |
| ich werde verärgert sein
I will be upset |
Futur II
| Passive voice |
| ich werde verärgert gewesen sein
I will have been upset |
Active and Passive Voice in German
Although these clauses are not passive, they have the same meaning as the passive voice.
Man
In many cases, clauses are formed with the pronoun “man” as a subject. The particle man can be translated to English as “one”, as in “One should watch what he says”. It is also like saying “they” when one is referring to some unknown group of people, etc.
Was isst man in Italien?
What does one eat in Italy?
Bekommen-Passiv
It is also called “Adressatenpassiv” and can be formed with the verbs bekommen,
“erhalten” or
“kriegen” which act as auxiliary verbs.
In this construction, the dative is changed into the subject (remember that in the passive voice it was the object that changed into the subject)
| Active voice |
Passive voice |
| Sie liefern uns heute das Sofa
They’ll deliver the sofa to us today |
Wir bekommen heute (von ihnen) das Sofa geliefert
We will receive (the delivery of) the sofa (from them) today |
