Transcript Slide 1

The passive voice is used much less frequently in
German as in English, but it is used (especially in
writing) so it is necessary for German learners to
become familiar with it’s construction and use.
Look at the difference between the active and
passive voices in German and in English.
Aktiv / Active
Ich lerne Deutsch.
I am learning German.
Passiv / Passive
Deutsch wird von mir gelernt.
German is being learned by me.
In German the passive voice is formed through the use of the verb
werden and with a past participle. In English, it is formed with a form
of the verb “to be” or using “is being” or “was being”.
Passiv / Passive
Deutsch wird von mir gelernt.
Conjugation of
werden
Past Participle
In the passive voice, the former object of the sentence.,
Ich lerne Deutsch becomes the subject of the sentence.
Only transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object) can
form the passive voice.
In order to form the passive, you will need to become familiar with the
conjugations of the verb werden in the present and past tenses.
ich
werde
wurde
du
wirst
wurdest
Most often used
wurde
er/sie/es
wird
wir
werden
wurden
ihr
werdet
wurdet
Sie/sie
werden
wurden
Sometimes, in the passive voice, certain prepositions are used to
indicate the agent doing the action.
These prepositions are….
durch used to indicate the means by which the action is done.
durch is an accusative case preposition
Der Brief wird durch die Post geschickt.
von
used to indicate a person or thing
von is a dative case preposition
Der Brief wird von mir geschrieben.
mit
Used to indicate the instrument used to perform the action.
mit is a dative case preposition
Der Brief wird mit dem Kuli geschrieben.
Deutsch wird gelernt.
present
German is being learned.
Deutsch wurde gelernt.
Simple past
German was being learned.
Deutsch ist gelernt worden.
Present perfect
German has been learned.
Deutsch war gelernt worden.
Past perfect
German had been learned.
Deutsch wird gelernt werden.
Future
German will be learned.
Deutsch wird gelernt worden sein.
German will have been learned.
Future perfect