In our technical guide on forming the Passive, we focused on the present tense (“Das Auto wird repariert”). But life doesn’t just happen in the present.
What if you want to say that a house was built last year, or that a letter has already been sent? To do that, you need to know how to shift the Passive Voice into different tenses. The good news is that the main verb (Partizip II) stays the same — you only need to change the helper verb werden.
1. Present Passive (Präsens Passiv)
As a refresher, we use the present tense of werden here to describe things happening right now or regularly.
- Formula: werden (Present) + Partizip II
- Example: “Das Brot wird gebacken.” (The bread is being baked.)
2. Past Passive (Präteritum Passiv)
This is the most common way to describe past events in newspapers, books, or reports. You simply change werden into its past tense form: wurde.
- Formula: wurde (Past) + Partizip II
| Person | Wurde (Conjugated) |
|---|---|
| Ich / Er / Sie / Es | wurde |
| Du | wurdest |
| Wir / Sie / sie | wurden |
| Ihr | wurdet |
- Example: “Das Brot wurde gebacken.” (The bread was baked.)
- Example: “Die Autos wurden repariert.” (The cars were repaired.)
3. Perfect Passive (Perfekt Passiv)
In everyday conversation, Germans use the Perfect tense to talk about completed actions. This formula is a bit longer because it has three parts.
- Formula: sein (conjugated) + Partizip II + worden
Important Note: In the passive voice, we don’t use “geworden.” We use the shortened form worden at the very end of the sentence.
- Example: “Das Brot ist gebacken worden.” (The bread has been baked.)
- Example: “Die Hausaufgaben sind gemacht worden.” (The homework has been done.)
4. Comparison Table (Quick Reference)
| Tense | Helper Verb | Main Verb (End) | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | wird / werden | Partizip II | Es wird gemacht. |
| Past | wurde / wurden | Partizip II | Es wurde gemacht. |
| Perfect | ist / sind | Partizip II + worden | Es ist gemacht worden. |
5. Word Order Tip
No matter which tense you use, the main action (Partizip II) always stays at the absolute end. If you are using worden (in the Perfect tense), it goes even after the Partizip II.
- “Gestern (1) ist (2) das Fenster (3) geputzt worden (End).”
This structure is vital for maintaining correct German Word Order (Satzbau).
FAQ
What is Präsens Passiv in German? Präsens Passiv is the present-tense passive, formed with wird/werden + Partizip II. Example: Das Brot wird gebacken (The bread is being baked).
What is Präteritum Passiv in German? Präteritum Passiv is the simple past passive, formed with wurde/wurden + Partizip II. Example: Das Brot wurde gebacken (The bread was baked). This is the most common way to describe past events in written German.
What is Perfekt Passiv in German? Perfekt Passiv is the present-perfect passive, formed with sein (conjugated) + Partizip II + worden. Example: Das Brot ist gebacken worden (The bread has been baked).
What about Futur passive? For Futur I and Futur II passive — plus the geworden vs. worden distinction in more depth — see our complete guide to forming the German passive.
Final Thoughts
The Passive Voice in the past might seem like a lot of words, but once you memorize the “frame” (the helper verb in Position 2 and the action at the end), it becomes logical.
