The German passive: when what happens matters more than who
In an active sentence, the subject does the action: “the baker bakes the bread”. In a passive sentence, the thing the action is done to becomes the subject: “the bread is baked”. German builds the passive with werden, the verb that also means “to become”.
News, instructions, science and official writing use the passive constantly. It lets the writer focus on the event: Das Rathaus wurde 1890 gebaut, the town hall was built in 1890.
Short answer: conjugate werden in the tense you need and put the past participle at the end. Name the doer with von + dative (a person) or durch + accusative (a means or cause). Sein + participle describes the finished result: die Tür ist geschlossen, the door is closed.
The passive in every tense
Only werden changes from tense to tense; the participle stays the same. In the perfect tenses, the participle of werden is shortened to worden (not geworden), and it takes sein.
Tense
Passive
English
Present
▶ Das Haus wirdgebaut.
The house is being built.
Präteritum
▶ Das Haus wurdegebaut.
The house was built.
Perfect
▶ Das Haus istgebaut worden.
The house has been built.
Pluperfect
▶ Das Haus wargebaut worden.
The house had been built.
Future
▶ Das Haus wirdgebaut werden.
The house will be built.
The Präteritum (wurde) is by far the most common passive tense in writing; see the simple past. In speech, the present and the perfect are more frequent.
Naming the doer: von or durch
The agent is whoever or whatever does the action. Most passive sentences leave it out. When you include it, choose the preposition by what kind of agent it is.
von + dativea person or an active doer
durch + accusativea means, process or cause
With a modal verb: participle + werden at the end
When a modal verb is involved, the modal takes slot 2 and the end of the sentence holds the participle followed by the infinitive werden. This is the form on every sign and instruction leaflet: what must, can or may be done.
Werden or sein: the process or the result
English “is closed” can mean two things: someone is closing it now, or it is in a closed state. German separates them. Werden describes the action happening; sein describes the state after it.
Shop signs use the sein-passive because they describe a state: geöffnet (open), geschlossen (closed), reserviert (reserved).
Passives with no subject, and the man alternative
Impersonal passiveGerman can make a passive even from verbs with no object, to describe an activity going on. If nothing else fills slot 1, es does; otherwise it disappears.
Man: the active alternativeMan means “one” or “people”. An active sentence with man says the same as a passive and is often lighter in conversation.
The passive in a news report
A short local news item. Passive verbs are in red. Every word has its English meaning underneath.