Passive Voice - Tenses and Moods

The passive voice can be expressed in mostly the same range of tenses and moods as in the active voice.

Both passive voice forms are formed using an auxiliary verb and the past participle of the verb describing the action in the active voice equivalent, or the main verb. The Vorgangspassiv or Handlungspassiv is formed using werden as its auxiliary verbs.

The Vorgangspassiv can be constructed in all six tenses of the Indicative mood and all eight tenses of the Subjunctive mood. The Zudstandspassiv is preferred for the Imperative mood.

Indicative

The Indicative (der Indikativ) mood is essentially the default mood. When someone is not giving a command (Imperative) or trying to indicate that something is not necessarily fact (Subjunctive), then they are using the Indicative mood.

Active Passive
Present
Der Mann isst den Apfel.
The man is eating the apple.		 Der Apfel wird gegessen.
The apple is being eaten.
[werden in Present] + [past participle]
Simple Past
Die Polizei verhaftete den Mann.
The police arrested the man.		 Der Mann wurde verhaftet.
The man was arrested.
[werden in Simple Past] + [past participle]
Future
Sie wird die Reifen des Autos wechseln.
She will change the car's tyres.		 Die Reifen des Autos werden gewechselt werden.
The car's tyres will be changed.
[werden for future] + [past participle] + werden
Present Perfect
Der Computer hat die Datei heruntergeladen.
The computer has downloaded the file.		 Die Datei ist heruntergeladen worden.
The file has been downloaded.
[sein in Present] + [past participle] + worden
Past Perfect
Der Täter hatte schon die Halskette gestohlen.
The culprit had already stolen the necklace.		 Die Halskette war schon gestohlen worden.
The necklace had already been stolen.
[sein in Simple Past] + [past participle] + worden
Future Perfect
Er wird das Schwert geschmiedet haben.
He will have forged the sword.		 Das Schwert wird geschmiedet worden sein.
The sword will have been forged.
[werden for future] + [past participle] + worden + sein

As you can see, the Vorgangspassiv passive voice is constructed in a similar manner to the active voice but with two key differences.

The auxiliary verb werden or its own auxiliary verb (or Hilfsverb) is the conjugated or finite verb where possible. An additional werden exists in the Future tense, but this werden is to indicate the sentence refers to a future event.

The original main verb in the active voice becomes its past participle in the passive voice. For example, in the Present sentence, “isst” (from essen) has become "gegessen".

These two key components, werden and the main verb's past participle, are essential to forming the Vorgangspassiv passive voice.

Important Note: The past participle used in the perfect tenses for werden is worden and not geworden. The verb werden has two separate past participles, depending on which voice it is being used in. In the active voice, where it means “to become”, geworden is used. In the passive voice, where it is exclusively an auxiliary verb, worden is used.

Subjunctive

The Subjunctive (der Konjunktiv) mood is typically split into two forms, Konjunktiv I and Konjunktiv II. The former is primarily used for reporting indirect speech, while the latter is for conveying unreal or hypothetical conditions or scenarios.

Konjunktiv I

ActivePassive
Present
Die Ärztin operiere das Kind.
(They said,) The doctor is operating on the child.		Das Kind werde operiert.
(They said,) The child is being operated on.
[werden in Konj I] + [past participle]
Past
Er habe den Satz übersetzt.
(They said,) He has translated the sentence..		Der Satz sei übersetzt worden.
(They said,) The sentence has been translated.
[sein in Konj I] + [past participle] + worden
Future
Sie werde das Formular ausfüllen.
She will fill out the form.		Das Formular werde ausgefüllt werden.
(They said,) The form will be filled out.
[werden in Konj I] + [past participle] + werden
Future Perfect1
Du werdest einen Brief geschrieben haben.
(They said), You will have written a letter.		Der Brief werde geschrieben worden sein.
(They said), The letter will have been written.
[werden in Konj I] + [past participle] + worden + sein
1 The Future Perfect is rarely used in this mood and its meaning would be expressed differently.

Konjunktiv II


Active Passive
Present1
Der Mann tränke den Apfelsaft.
The man would drink the apple juice.		 Der Apfelsaft würde getrunken.
The apple juice would be drunk.
[werden in Konj II] + [past participle]
Past
Ich hätte das Haus verkauft.
I would have sold the house.		 Das Haus wäre verkauft worden.
The house would have been sold.
[sein in Konj II] + [past participle] + worden
Future
Er würde dich sehen.
He would see you.		 Du würdest gesehen werden.
You would be seen.
[werden in Konj II] + [past participle] + werden
Future Perfect2
Wir würden die Möhren geschnitten haben.
We would have cut the carrots.		 Die Möhren würden geschnitten worden sein.
The carrots would have been cut.
[werden in Konj II] + [past participle] + worden + sein

1 The Present form is often expressed via the Future form to prevent confusion with the Simple Past in the Indicative mood.
2 The Future Perfect in this mood is very rarely used. This form would be expressed in a different manner.

Imperative

The Imperative (der Imperativ) mood can theoretically be formed with the passive voice but it is used extremely rare, if at all. The form with the Zustandspassiv is, however, not uncommon.

The English translation is only an approximation.
Present

  Werde gegrüßt.
  (You shall) Be greeted.

[werden in Imperative] + [past participle]
Simple Past

  Sei gegrüßt worden .
  (You shall) Have been greeted.

[sein in Imperative] + [past participle] + worden

Further Content about Passive Voice

Passive Voice - Tenses and Moods (current article)

Last Updated: 22 April 2018

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