Understanding the German Passive Voice (Das Passiv)
When you learn German at a B2 level, mastering the passive voice is essential. It allows you to shift the focus of a sentence from who is doing the action to what is happening.
Why use the Passive Voice?
In German, we use the passive voice when the person performing the action (the “agent”) is either unknown or not important. It highlights the action itself rather than the person.
The Two Types of Passive
German distinguishes between two main types of passive:
-
Vorgangspassiv (Process Passive):
This is the most common form. It describes an action in progress.
- Formula: werden + Partizip II (Past Participle).
-
Zustandspassiv (State Passive):
This describes a finished state or a result.
- Formula: sein + Partizip II.
How to Conjugate the Process Passive (Indikativ)
To use the passive voice correctly, you must conjugate the auxiliary verb werden while keeping the main verb at the end of the sentence.
| Tense | German Example | English Meaning |
| Präsens | er wird geliebt | he is loved |
| Präteritum | er wurde geliebt | he was loved |
| Perfekt | er ist geliebt worden | he has been loved |
| Plusquamperfekt | er war geliebt worden | he had been loved |
| Futur I | er wird geliebt werden | he will be loved |
| Futur II | er wird geliebt worden sein | he will have been loved |
The Passive in Subjunctive (Konjunktiv)
If you are talking about wishes, possibilities, or indirect speech, you use the Konjunktiv forms:
- Konjunktiv I (Present): er werde geliebt
- Konjunktiv II (Potential): er würde geliebt
- Past (Konj. II): er wäre geliebt worden
Other Important Forms
- Infinitiv: geliebt werden (to be loved)
- Imperativ: Werde geliebt! (Be loved!)
- Modalpartizip: zu liebend (to be loved/needing to be loved)