In most sentences, we use the Active Voice: “Der Koch kocht die Suppe” (The cook cooks the soup). Here, the cook is the hero of the sentence.
But what if the cook isn’t important? What if we only care about the soup? That’s where the Passive Voice (Das Passiv) comes in. In Passive Voice, the focus shifts to the action itself: “Die Suppe wird gekocht” (The soup is being cooked).
If you want to understand news reports, official signs, or describe processes, you need to know how the Passive works.
1. The Magic Formula: Werden + Partizip II
To build a passive sentence in the present tense, you only need two things:
- The conjugated form of the verb werden.
- The Partizip II (the past participle) of the main verb, which always goes to the end of the sentence.
| Person | Werden (Conjugated) | Partizip II (at the end) |
| Die Suppe | wird | gekocht. |
| Die Autos | werden | repariert. |
| Das Haus | wird | gebaut. |
2. What happens to the “Subject”?
In the Active Voice, the subject does the work. In the Passive Voice, the former object becomes the new subject.
- Active: Der Mechaniker (Subject) repariert das Auto (Object).
- Passive: Das Auto (New Subject) wird repariert.
If you still want to mention who did it, you can use the word von + Dativ:
- “Das Auto wird von dem Mechaniker repariert.”
3. When do Germans use Passive?
Passive is very common in:
- Instructions: “Der Knopf wird gedrückt.” (The button is pressed).
- News: “Ein neues Gesetz wird geplant.” (A new law is being planned).
- General facts: “In Deutschland wird viel Bier getrunken.” (In Germany, a lot of beer is drunk).
4. Word Order Reminder
The Passive Voice follows the strict Satzbau rules you’ve already learned. The conjugated verb (werden) stays in Position 2, and the Partizip II kicks out to the very end.
- “Heute (1) wird (2) das Auto (3) gewaschen (End).”
💡 Common Beginner Mistake
Don’t confuse werden (to become/passive) with sein (to be).
- “Die Tür ist geschlossen” means the door is already closed (State).
- “Die Tür wird geschlossen” means someone is closing it right now (Action/Passive).
Pro Tip: If you’re writing a report and want to make sure your Passive forms are correct, try our German Grammar Checker to verify your verb positions!
Final Thoughts
Passive Voice might seem like an extra step, but it’s the key to reaching an intermediate level of German. It allows you to describe the world around you without always needing to know “who” is doing the action.