Passive voice — Passiv

Level B1 · Talk about actions without focusing on who does them, using werden + past participle

What is the passive?

Active sentences focus on who does the action: Der Koch macht die Suppe. Passive sentences focus on the action or result: Die Suppe wird gemacht. Who did it is unknown, unimportant or obvious.

When you use it

Processes and instructions: Der Teig wird gut gerührt.
News: Die Brücke wurde 1990 gebaut.
Rules and notices: Hier wird nicht geraucht.

Pattern

werden + … + Partizip II

What changes

werden shows the person and the time (wird, wurde); the participle stays at the end

Examples

Das Haus wird gebaut. — The house is being built.
Das Haus wurde gebaut. — The house was built.

Remember: Active asks who does it? Passive asks what happens?

Watch out: In the passive, wird is not “will”: Das Haus wird gebaut = the house is being built — now.

Uses the past participle from: Perfekt — spoken past.

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