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In the active voice, the grammatical subject performs the action of the verb.
If the subject is the thing acted upon, the sentence is in the passive voice.
| The account was opened last week. |
Passive tends to be used when the speaker does not care or know who has done something. The focus is on the action itself, not on who did it.
German passive uses the auxiliary werden in the front bracket and the past participle in the end bracket.
| | Front Bracket |
|
| End Bracket |
| Werden Auxiliary |
Past Part. |
| Das Konto wurde letzte Woche eröffnet. |
Tense Forms In The Passive
The passive tenses are determined by the tense form of the auxiliary werden. The past participle of the main verb is used in all tenses.
SINGULAR
| Present |
ich werde gesehen |
I am seen |
| Past |
ich wurde gesehen |
I was seen |
| Perfect |
ich bin gesehen worden* |
I have been seen |
| Present |
Sie werden gesehen |
you are seen |
| Past |
Sie wurden gesehen |
you were seen |
| Perfect |
Sie sind gesehen worden |
you have been seen |
| Present |
er wird gesehen |
he is seen |
| Past |
er wurde gesehen |
he was seen |
| Perfect |
er ist gesehen worden |
he has been seen |
| Present |
sie wird gesehen |
she is seen |
| Past |
sie wurde gesehen |
she was seen |
| Perfect |
sie ist gesehen worden |
she has been seen |
| Present |
es wird gesehen |
it is seen |
| Past |
es wurde gesehen |
it was seen |
| Perfect |
es ist gesehen worden |
it has been seen |
PLURAL
| Present |
wir werden gesehen |
we are seen |
| Past |
wir wurden gesehen |
we were seen |
| Perfect |
wir sind gesehen worden |
we have been seen |
| Present |
Sie werden gesehen |
you are seen |
| Past |
Sie wurden gesehen |
you were seen |
| Perfect |
Sie sind gesehen worden |
you have been seen |
| Present |
sie werden gesehen |
they are seen |
| Past |
sie wurden gesehen |
they were seen |
| Perfect |
sie sind gesehen worden |
they have been seen |
* When used as a passive auxiliary in the perfect,
werden uses the short form worden instead of the full participle geworden.
The past and perfect tenses of the passive are synonymous.
| Das Konto wurde letzte Woche eröffnet. |
| The account was opened last week. |
| Das Konto ist letzte Woche eröffnet worden. |
| The account was opened last week. |
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