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!

By-Agent

Usually, you use passive voice if it is not important who did something, only what was done. In some cases, you might still want to add the information of who does it. For that you can use the by-agent.

By-Agent

Wenn du das Passiv benutzt, ist es normalerweise nicht so wichtig, wer etwas getan hat, sondern nur, was passiert ist. In manchen Fällen will man aber trotzdem noch Informationen darüber hinzufügen, wer es getan hat. In diesen Situationen benutzt man den by-agent.
  • 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)
Now take a look at the following text. Mark the passive constructions yellow and the active voice orange!
Jetzt sieh dir den nachfolgenden Text an! Markiere die Passivsätze gelb und die Aktivsätze orange!
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.
 
de
  1. The children were told to bring their books to school (by the teacher).
     
  2. Gina called the police.
     
  3. The cookies were eaten within a minute (by the children).
     
  4. Anne gave her backpack to Luke.
     
  5. The children broke the window with a stone.
     
  6. Breakfast was prepared (by James).
     
  7. Everyone thinks it is a good idea.
     
  8. The weather was announced to be good (by the TV presenter).
     
  9. The water is said to be warm (by Charlie).
     
 
 
 

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