Passive Voice - Usages
The German and English passive voices are often used in a similar manner. They are mainly used to avoid having to name the agent of an action. This can be because the agent is unimportant, unknown, implied from context, or the writer does not wish to name it. For example, when downloading a file you may see:
Datei wird heruntergeladen.
This usage is frequently employed to focus on the action. In scientific and technical literature, the passive voice has the added benefit of appearing a bit more objective.
There are a few other important differences.
The dog was shot by the man.
This construction is necessary due to English's rather strict word order. German does not need to revert to the passive voice to achieve this effect due to its much more flexible word order, which allows objects to easily be swapped:
Den Hund erschoss der Mann.
German speakers may nevertheless use this strategy to avoid ambiguity or odd-looking sentences, such as:
Die Wasseroberfläche wird nur leicht vom Wind gestreichelt.
(Active voice: Die Wasseroberfläche streichelt der Wind.)
The water's surface was only lightly stroked by the wind.
Ruhe, hier wird gearbeitet!
Quiet, people are working here!
Vor Hunden wird gewarnt.
Beware of dogs.
Jetzt wird nicht gelacht!
No laughing now!
Es wird nicht geglozt!
No gawking!
Datei wird heruntergeladen.
This usage is frequently employed to focus on the action. In scientific and technical literature, the passive voice has the added benefit of appearing a bit more objective.
There are a few other important differences.
English vs German usage
The passive voice in English is frequently used to swap the object and subject at the head of a sentence, in order to place more emphasis on the object. For example:The dog was shot by the man.
This construction is necessary due to English's rather strict word order. German does not need to revert to the passive voice to achieve this effect due to its much more flexible word order, which allows objects to easily be swapped:
Den Hund erschoss der Mann.
German speakers may nevertheless use this strategy to avoid ambiguity or odd-looking sentences, such as:
Die Wasseroberfläche wird nur leicht vom Wind gestreichelt.
(Active voice: Die Wasseroberfläche streichelt der Wind.)
The water's surface was only lightly stroked by the wind.
Activities
A passive sentence can be used with an impersonal pronoun to denote that an activity in general is going on with no indication of who is doing it. For example:Ruhe, hier wird gearbeitet!
Quiet, people are working here!
Vor Hunden wird gewarnt.
Beware of dogs.
Commands
Subjectless sentences can also be used to express commands. For example:Jetzt wird nicht gelacht!
No laughing now!
Es wird nicht geglozt!
No gawking!
Further Content about Passive Voice
Passive Voice - Usages (current)
Last Updated: 10 June 2018
Passive Voice - Usages (current)
Comments
Post a Comment