CLASS 7 · LEARNING KNOWLEDGE

Active and passive – basic principles and identifying features

How it works

In German, a distinction is made between active and passive. In the active, the sentence usually names the doer as the subject. In the process passive, the process is the focus; often the accusative object of the active sentence becomes the subject, while the doer can be named with a complement with ‹von›, but does not have to be named. The process passive is formed with a form of ‹werden› and the past participle. In addition, there is the resultative passive with ‹sein› and past participle. Not all verbs form a personal passive; with some, only an impersonal passive is possible.

Note
First ask who is acting and what the action is directed at. Active shows the doer, passive directs attention to the process or result. The process passive is recognized by ‹werden› + past participle, the resultative passive by ‹sein› + past participle.

An example

Which sentence is in the passive? A) ‹Der Hund beißt den Mann.› B) ‹Der Mann wird vom Hund gebissen.› C) ‹Der Hund wird bellen.› D) ‹Der Mann hat Angst vor dem Hund.›

The correct answer is B, because here the action is at the center and the form ‹wird gebissen› shows the process passive. In A, the subject is acting itself, C is future active, D is not a passive sentence.

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Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: German. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.