Passive in German: how to correctly apply it

The passive in the German language, in principle, as in any other, is a passive voice, which shows how the object of a certain action undergoes it. In addition, it often indicates the result.

Prevalence

It should be noted that the passive in German is much more common when compared with Russian. And accordingly, it is used much more often. That is why it is so important to thoroughly study this topic and learn how to correctly apply knowledge in practice. The passive in the German language has the following education: from transitive verbs and in the process of change you can not do without an auxiliary verb that sounds like werden. In total, in this language there are two pledges - real and passive. German is known for all passive constructions. An example should be given that will show how important liabilities are in constructing sentences. So, here is the phrase: “In Deutschland wird sehr viel gearbeitet”. It is translated as follows: "In Germany, a lot of work." Here it is clearly seen how the passive indicates action. This, in fact, is its function.

Convert from Active to Passive

In German, this often happens. In order to make passive from the active, it is necessary to turn the noun appearing in the accusative case, which is the object, into the subject. After that, it becomes an object expressed by the dative case and also with the preposition von. This is the only change, the other, minor, members remain as such. However, we must not forget that the verb form cannot exist without coordination with the new subject. In principle, depending on the construction, the meaning does not change. Let's say: "Jeder Mensch macht zwei Aufgaben." This phrase is translated as follows: "Each person does two tasks." If you build this proposal in a different way, namely as follows: “Die beiden Aufgaben werden von einer Person”, then it will change a little, because it will sound in Russian like this: “Two tasks are done by one person”. The meaning is identical, as you can see, because it is not particularly important to use any one form.

Formation of passive voice

Present passive in German, as the name implies, indicates a change in state. Similar phrases are usually translated by personality-vague sentences. They can also be passive. Here it is worth noting one detail. The passive in the German language is a special part of speech, therefore you need to carefully pay attention to the formation of passive voice in Plusquamperfekt, as well as in Perfect. In these cases, the personal form of the word sein is used, i.e. auxiliary verb, worden (from warden) and the participle Partizip II. The semantic load of the application of this part of speech is very dependent. That is why you need to spend a lot of time studying a topic such as passive in German. The table in this case is unlikely to help, since each verb changes individually - here you need to memorize the rules.

German passive

This is a type of previously mentioned passive voice. It directly indicates the result of the committed action. The suggestions provide an answer to the question of exactly what state the object is in. It sounds like this: “Wie ist der Zustand?”. It should be noted that in the sentences built in this form, there is no action agent. And in our native language such constructions are usually translated as short participles. One vivid example: “Du bist eingeladen”. If you disassemble in detail, then in Russian it translates as “You are invited”. And in the form of a short communion, it’s much more logical: “You are invited.” The state passive can be formed using the verb sein, which is auxiliary. It is used mainly in the past and present tenses. Let's say: “Das Essen ist zubereitet wird” and “Das Essen war zubereitet wird” - “Food is cooked” and “Food was cooked”.

Replacement of passive structures

I must say that, despite the frequent use of the passive voice in the German language, there are some ways to avoid its use. This is especially true for those phrases that use modal verbs. They are replaced by the use of a bunch of sein + zu + infinitive. For example, the phrase “Das Handy kann repariert werden”, translated as “a mobile phone can be repaired,” is abbreviated as “Das Handy ist zu reparieren”. There is another way to change the phrase. For this, the same “sein” is used, as well as an adjective with one of the following suffixes: “-lich” or “-bar”. There is no clear rule regarding which one is best to use. The same sentence about a mobile phone will look like this in a letter: “Das Handy lässt sich reparieren”. And sich lassen is often used together with the infinitive. If we take as an example the previously mentioned phrase, then in this case it will sound like this: “Das Handy lässt sich reparieren”. Which of the following options is better to apply - it already depends directly on the speaker. It should be noted that in colloquial German these types of abbreviations are most often used. It is convenient, fast, understandable and, most importantly, competently.