Passive Voice
Use
What is passive voice?
- In the greater number of sentences that come up in everyday life, you use active voice.
- Active voice looks for example like this: The boy ran after the dog.
- Passive voice looks like this: The dog was run after (by the boy).
- Active voice: A person does something.
- Passive voice: Something is done by a person.
Here are more examples of matching active and passive sentences. Compare them and try to find out what's the difference!
AKTIV | PASSIV |
The man builds a house. | A house is built. |
The child eats cake. | Cake is eaten. |
The woman sings a song. | A song is sung. |
The boy reads a book. | A book is read. |
Let's take a closer look now!
This is a very easy active sentence:
Maria makes spaghetti.
- Who makes spaghetti?
Maria. - What does Maria make? Spaghetti.
Now let's do the same thing with a passive sentence:
Spaghetti are made.
- What is made? Spaghetti.
- Who makes them? We do not know!
- If you transform a sentence from active to passive voice, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
- In a passive sentence, most of the time we do not know who is performing the action, only what is being done.
Passiv
Gebrauch
Was ist das Passiv?
- In der Mehrzahl aller Sätze, die du im alltäglichen Leben sagst, benutzt du das Aktiv.
- Ein Satz im Aktiv sieht zum Beispiel so aus: The boy ran after the dog.
- Ein Satz im Passiv sieht so aus: The dog was run after (by the boy).
- Aktiv: Eine Person tut etwas.
- Passiv: Etwas wird von einer Person getan.
Hier sind mehr Beispiele für zusammenpassende Aktiv- und Passivsätze! Vergleiche sie und versuche herauszufinden, wo der Unterschied liegt!
AKTIV | PASSIV |
The man builds a house. | A house is built. |
The child eats cake. | Cake is eaten. |
The woman sings a song. | A song is sung. |
The boy reads a book. | A book is read. |
Lass uns jetzt mal genauer hinsehen!
Das ist ein sehr einfacher Satz im Aktiv:
Mariamakes spaghetti.
- Wer macht Spaghetti? Maria.
- Was macht Maria? Spaghetti.
Jetzt machen wir das gleiche mit einem Satz im Passiv:
Spaghettiare made.
- Was wird gemacht? Spaghetti.
- Wer macht sie? Wir wissen es nicht!
- Wenn du einen Satz vom Aktiv ins Passiv umwandelst, wird das Objekt des Aktivsatzes zum Subjekt des Passivsatzes.
- In einem Satz im Passiv wissen wir meistens nicht, wer die Handlung ausführt, sondern nur, was getan wird.
Form
What do you need for a correct sentence in passive voice?
SUBJECT + FORM OF "TO BE" + PAST PARTICIPLE
My mother is called Anne.
- The form of "to be" has to match the subject I am, you are, he/she/it is, … or I was, you were, …
- The past participle is the form of the verb that you also use in the present perfect.
Bildung
Was braucht man für einen korrekten Satz im Passiv?
SUBJEKT + FORM VON "TO BE" + PARTIZIP PERFEKT
My mother is called Anne.
- Die Form von "to be" muss zum Subjekt passen I am, you are, he/she/it is, … or I was, you were, …
- Das Partizip Perfekt ist die Verbform, die du auch im Present Perfect benutzt!
- The teacher solves the problem. (Active voice)
- The problem is solved. (Passive voice)
- The problem is solved by the teacher. (Passive voice with by-agent)
In the next exercise, you have to transform active into passive voice and the other way around! You do not need to add a by-agent when transforming into passive voice!
For example:
- Marcus cooked dinner. Dinner was cooked.
- The keys were found (by Lara). Lara found the keys.
In der nächsten Übung musst du Aktiv in Passiv umwandeln und umgekehrt! Du brauchst keinen by-agent hinzuzufügen, wenn du ins Passiv umwandelst.
Zum Beispiel:
- Marcus cooked dinner. Dinner was cooked.
- The keys were found (by Lara). Lara found the keys.