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Present	Der Laden ist geschlossen The shop is closed
Present pefect	Die Stadt ist zerstört gewesen The city has been destroyed
Past simple	Die Lektion war gut erklärt The lesson was explained well
Future	Ihr Name wird in Erinnerung geblieben sein Her name will be remembered

THE STATAL PASSIVE (+ SEIN)

Present	Die Gefangenen werden nach draußen gebracht The prisoners are taken outside
Present pefect	Die Maus ist von der Katze gefangen worden The mouse has been caught by the cat
Past simple	Einstein wurde am 14. März 1879 in Ulm geboren Einstein was born in Ulm on 14th March, 1879
Future	Das Museum wird nächste Woche eröffnet werden The museum will be opened next week

Present	Der Junge ist verletzt The boy is hurt
Present pefect	Der Junge ist verletzt gewesen The boy is (been) hurt
Past simple	Der Junge war verletzt The boy was hurt
Future	Der Junge wird verletzt sein The boy will be hurt

Role

describe the condition after the action

Formation

subject + SEIN+ past participle

THE STATAL PASSIVE (+ SEIN)

Not all verbs are used in the passive voice. Only verbs that take a direct object are transitive (may take the passive form). Remember: reflexive verbs and verbs that have sein as auxiliary (present perfect), don’t form the passive!

Mrs. Puddles gives a tip!

⭐ Von (+ dative ) & Durch (by)

In the passive voice the subject ( personal agent) behind the action is often mentioned using “von” or using “durch” for non - personal agents:

➔ Das Buch wurde von mir geschrieben (von is a dative particle used for personal agents “mir” in passive voice)

The book was written by me

➔ Das Virus wurde durch Impfung ausgerottet

The virus was eradicated by vaccination (vaccination is an impersonal agent)

Important note: there are four verbs that have a direct object and don’t have passive form: haben, wissen, es gibt, kennen

Important fact: when somebody asks informally about your birth date, you may use the statal passive:

Wann bist du geboren? - Ich bin am 11. Juni 2000 geboren

In your CV you should use the processual passive:

Ich wurde am 11. Juni 2000 geboren

Be aware! Passive voice isn’t a tense, it’s a form of the tense

Mrs. Puddles gives a tip!

German use the passive voice less than English speakers in the spoken language because it’s preferred in the written language

Mrs. Puddles gives a tip!

She hurts him

................................

He is hurt

ActiveOvoice

PassiveOvoice

Mr. Kitty Hawk: : Umm! Danke!

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THE PROCESSUAL PASSIVE (+ werden)

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Cats are lovely and may prove to be a good company for you while learning or struggling with German.

Here's the perfect place for animal lovers and German learners!

2020, L2D

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Take your chance and try to guess what these sentences mean ! Afterwards, follow the structure to get a better understanding !

Mrs. Purrplexed wants to play!

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Mr. Puddle: Yeah, so, also… did you know that you can avoid the passive? Using “man” even though it is in the active voice: “Man spricht Deutsch hier” has a passive meaning “German is spoken here”

Mr. Puddle: For example “He died/has died” “Er ist gestorben” - sterben is already at the present perfect and doesn’t need any passive forms. Did i ever tell you that you are my roughest student?!

Mr. Kitty Hawk: I don’t like the passive voice!

Mr. Kitty Hawk: So we don’t have passive forms for verbs with auxiliary “sein” at present perfect... I need an example! This is a madness!

I. Theory and definitions: Passive voice

Passive voice in German

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✔️ Follow the sentences and see how the structures work. You may wanna play with Mrs. Purrplexed too while trying to translate some of them!

V. Let's practice! - Passive voice

IV. Purrrfection explained! - Passive voice

✔️ Passive voice is often used in written language and less in spoken language

✔️ There are two types of passive voice: processual and statual voice

✔️ Processual voice is formed with werden and statual voice with sein

✔️ Reflexive verbs, verbs with “sein” as auxiliary at the present perfect and haben, wissen, es gibt, kennen have no passive forms

✔️ Only verbs with direct objects are transitive and have passive forms

III. Tips & Tricks : How to learn them easily? - Passive voice

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II. Practical examples - Passive voice

Present	Der Junge wird geschlagen The boy is beaten
Present pefect	Der Junge ist geschlagen worden The boy has been beaten
Past simple	Der Junge wurde geschlagen The boy was beaten
Future	Der Junge wird geschlagen werden The boy will be beaten

Role

emphasize the action

Formation

subject + werden + past participle

THE PROCESSUAL PASSIVE (+ werden)

There are two types of passive voice:

⭐ THE PROCESSUAL PASSIVE

⭐ THE STATAL PASSIVE

As you noticed, in the active voice “him ” is the direct object while in the passive voice is the subject. We aren’t interested about the person who hurt him but rather about the fact that the he was hurt

✔️ We often speak English switching the active voice with the passive voice or vice versa:

Fill in the blanks using the auxiliary form of the verb 'werden' depending on the tense within the context.

▶ See the translation of the text

The Queen's Gambit series was seen by a lot of people last month. In fact, it's one of the few limited edition series that has had such a large audience. The series is created by Netflix. The story is written by Walter Tevis and was not so successful at first. The main character is an orphan girl who was taken to an orphanage. The girl wil have become one of the strongest chess players in the world by the end of the series.