What are the different kinds of passive sentences in German?

There are two forms of passive sentences in the German language: the Zustandspassiv, passively describing a fixed condition, and the Vorgangspassiv, passively describing an ongoing process.

The Zustandpassiv is formed by a Personalform of sein and the respective Partizip II. The use of the Zustandspassiv however is usually only sensible within the Präsens and the Präteritum, since the formation of a Zustandspassiv-sentence in all other tenses can be very elaborate.
Examples:
Das Tor ist geschlossen.
Er war angekommen.

The Vorgangspassiv is formed by a Personalform of werden or sein and the respective Partizip II.
Examples:
Präsens - Der Ball wird geworfen.
Präteritum - Der Hund wurde gestreichelt.
Futur I - Das Buch wird gelesen werden.
Futur II - Der Schrank wird gekauft worden sein.
Perfekt - Sie ist bestraft worden.
Plusquamperfekt - Der Mantel war angezogen worden.

Answered by Erik P. German tutor

1765 Views

See similar German GCSE tutors

Related German GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How do conjunctions like 'weil' and 'obwohl' affect the word order?


Was hast du letzes Wochenende gemacht?


How does the gender of German nouns work?


How do I form the future tense?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo
Cookie Preferences