Passive Voice (Present) in German

Overview

The passive voice in German allows you to shift the focus from who is doing something to what is being done. Instead of saying "The teacher reads the book" (active), you say "The book is being read" (passive). In German, this is formed using the verb werden plus the past participle: Das Buch wird gelesen.

This is a B1-level topic that significantly expands what you can express. The passive voice is especially common in news reports, formal writing, instructions, and descriptions of processes — anywhere the action matters more than the actor. It is also used frequently in everyday speech, particularly when the person performing the action is unknown or unimportant.

Learning the present passive (Passiv im Präsens) gives you the foundation for understanding all passive constructions in German, including past and future passive forms that you will meet at B2.

How It Works

The present passive is formed with: conjugated form of werden + past participle

Person	werden (present)	Example	Translation
ich	werde	Ich werde gefragt.	I am being asked.
du	wirst	Du wirst eingeladen.	You are being invited.
er/sie/es	wird	Es wird gemacht.	It is being done.
wir	werden	Wir werden informiert.	We are being informed.
ihr	werdet	Ihr werdet bezahlt.	You all are being paid.
sie/Sie	werden	Sie werden gerufen.	They are being called.

Expressing the agent (who does it):

Preposition	Used for	Example
von + dative	Person/agent	Das Buch wird von der Lehrerin gelesen.
durch + accusative	Means/cause	Die Stadt wurde durch das Feuer zerstört.

Key rules:

• Only transitive verbs (verbs that take an accusative object) can form a personal passive. The accusative object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
• The past participle goes to the end of the clause.
• In subordinate clauses, werden moves to the final position after the past participle: ..., weil das Buch gelesen wird.

Examples in Context

German	English	Note
Das Buch wird gelesen.	The book is being read.	Basic passive
Die Tür wird geöffnet.	The door is being opened.	Focus on action, not actor
Er wird von allen gemocht.	He is liked by everyone.	Agent with von
Das Essen wird gerade zubereitet.	The food is being prepared right now.	Ongoing process
Die E-Mails werden jeden Tag geschickt.	The emails are sent every day.	Habitual passive
Hier wird Deutsch gesprochen.	German is spoken here.	General statement
Die Kinder werden um 8 Uhr abgeholt.	The children are picked up at 8 o'clock.	Routine description
Das Projekt wird von der Firma finanziert.	The project is financed by the company.	Agent specified
Es wird viel gearbeitet.	A lot of work is being done.	Impersonal passive
Die Straße wird repariert.	The road is being repaired.	Common everyday use

Common Mistakes

Confusing werden as future vs. passive

• Wrong interpretation: Das Buch wird gelesen = "The book will read"
• Right: Das Buch wird gelesen = "The book is being read"
• Why: Werden + infinitive = future tense. Werden + past participle = passive voice. The difference is the verb form at the end.

Using the wrong case after von

• Wrong: Das Buch wird von der Lehrer gelesen.
• Right: Das Buch wird von dem Lehrer gelesen.
• Why: Von always takes the dative case. Make sure to adjust the article accordingly.

Trying to make intransitive verbs passive with a subject

• Wrong: Der Park wird gegangen. (The park is being walked)
• Right: Im Park wird spaziert. (Walking is done in the park — impersonal)
• Why: Intransitive verbs can only form impersonal passives with es or a prepositional phrase, not personal passives with a subject.

Usage Notes

The passive voice is much more common in written German than in spoken German. News articles, academic texts, and official documents use it heavily. In conversation, Germans often prefer active constructions or use man (one/people) as an alternative: Man spricht hier Deutsch instead of Hier wird Deutsch gesprochen.

The impersonal passive (es wird getanzt — there is dancing) is a uniquely German construction that has no direct English equivalent. It is used with intransitive verbs to describe activities in general, without specifying who is doing them. You will often see it on signs: Hier wird nicht geraucht (No smoking here).

Formal and official registers favor the passive strongly. If you read German bureaucratic letters, you will notice passive constructions everywhere: Ihr Antrag wird bearbeitet (Your application is being processed).

Practice Tips

1. Take five active sentences from a news article and convert them to passive. Pay close attention to which element becomes the new subject and where the past participle lands.
2. When reading German texts, highlight passive constructions and try to identify the hidden agent — who is actually doing the action? This trains you to both recognize and produce the structure.
3. Practice the impersonal passive with activity verbs: Es wird getanzt, gesungen, gelacht (There is dancing, singing, laughing). These are fun to use and very idiomatic.

Related Concepts

• Past Participle Formation — you need solid past participles to form the passive
• Passive Voice (Past) — extending the passive into past tenses
• Stative Passive (sein-Passive) — describing states with sein + past participle