Das Passiv
German uses the passive voice more than English does, especially in official notices, instructions, and descriptions of a process - situations where the action matters more than who does it. You already know werden and Partizip II (Lesson: Perfekt), so this reuses both.
The passive takes the object of an active sentence and makes it the subject. The verb becomes werden (conjugated) plus the Partizip II at the end of the sentence.
Active: Der Mitarbeiter öffnet die Tür. (The employee opens the door.)
Passive: Die Tür wird geöffnet. (The door is opened.)
Notice the door - the thing the action happens to - becomes the subject, and who did it is no longer required.
Quick check: in the passive, which verb is conjugated, and what goes at the end of the sentence?
| Tense | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Präsens (present) | wird/werden + Partizip II | Die Tür wird geöffnet. (The door is opened.) |
| Präteritum (simple past) | wurde/wurden + Partizip II | Die Tür wurde geöffnet. (The door was opened.) |
Quick check: "The door was opened" uses which form of werden - wird or wurde?
If you do need to say who performed the action, add von plus the dative case (Lesson: Dative Case).
Die Tür wird von dem Mitarbeiter geöffnet. (The door is opened by the employee.)
In practice, this is often left out - that is the whole point of choosing the passive: to talk about the action without naming who did it. You will see this constantly in official signs and instructions: "Hier wird nicht geraucht" (No smoking here - literally "here is not smoked").
Quick check: which small word introduces the person who performed a passive action?
1. "The door is opened" - Die Tür ______ geöffnet.
2. What case follows "von" when naming who performed a passive action?
Aligned with standard Goethe-Zertifikat B1 / telc B1 exam syllabus topics.
Want to practice spotting passive sentences in a German notice or sign? Ask your teaching agent.