So far we have learned how to form a passive voice, we have also learned how active sentences are turned into passive, and that the object in the accusative case from the active sentence becomes the object in the nominative case, that is, the subject. But what happens when there is no accusative object in the sentence, you will find out in this lesson.
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Active sentence with object in accusative case
Comparing active and passive sentence with object in accusative case
Active sentence with object in accusative and dative case
Active sentence without object in accusative case/without subject
Active sentence with “MAN”
Transforming active sentences into passive ones
Passive without subject
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Grammar Contents
Active sentence with object in accusative case
We can turn active sentence with object in accusative case into a passive one
Example:
Active: Die Mutter wäscht den Pullover.
Passive: Der Pullover wird (von der Mutter) gewaschen.
Noun Die Mutter in active sentence is a subject, but when the same sentence turn into a passive one, the subject in passive sentence can be omitted or it can be expressed by the phrase von + noun in dative (von der Mutter), and the object in accusative case in active sentence becomes subject in the passive sentence (den Pullover= der Pulover).
The verb waschen in the active sentence is turned into the passive form in the passive sentence: wird gewaschen.
Comparing active and passive sentence with object in accusative case
We are going to compare the two sentences in the following example:
Die Feuerwehr rettet die Katze. (The firemen save the cat.)
Die Feuerwehr is the subject, rettet is the predicate, die Katze is the object in accusative case. The same is in English language. The firemen is the subject, save is the predicate ,cat is the object in accusative case.
When we turn this active sentence into passive, it looks like this:
Die Katze wird (von der Feuerwehr) gerettet. (The cat is (by the firemen) saved.)
Die Katze is a subject that was an object in an active sentence, wird ... gerettet is a predicate, and von der Feuerwehr is a prepositional phrase von + Dative, which is used in passive sentences German, if we still want to indicate the doer of the action. The prepositional phrase can be built with three prepositions: von + DATIVE, durch + ACCUSATIVE and mit + DATIVE.
Active sentence with object in accusative case and dative case
If the active sentence besides object in accusative case has an object in dative case, then dative remains unchanged.
Example:
Active: Der Fremdenführer zeigte dem Gast die ganze Stadt.
Passive: Dem Gast wurde von dem Fremdenführer die ganze Stadt gezeigt.
Active sentence without an object in accusative case (Passive sentences without subject)
You can also form the passive if there is NO accusative object in the active sentence, but only the nominative, dative or prepositional phrase. Passive sentences that are formed by transforming active sentences without an object into the accusative case are also called passive sentences without a subject. Passive sentences without a subject are usually less advisable.
Active: Wir dieskutieren in der Sitzung. ( This is an active sentence without object in accusative case.)
Passive 1: In der Sitzung wird diskutiert. ( This is a passive sentence without a subjet, which begins with adverbial phrase for place)
Passive 2: Es wird in der Sitzung diskutiert. (Es stands here instead of subject. This is a passive sentence without subject which begins with es .)
Active sentence with man
When an active sentence with man is turned into passive voice, passive sentence DOES NOT have phrase von + dative
Active: Man raucht hier nicht.
Passive: Es wird hier nicht geraucht.
Active: Man achtet auf gute Tischmanieren.
Passive: Es wird auf gute Tischmanieren geachtet.
Active: Man rät ihm zur Vorsicht.
Passive: Es wird ihm zur Vorsicht geraten.
Transformning active sentences into passive ones
1. The subject of the active sentence is not mentioned in the passive BUT it can appear in the passive sentence in the form of a prepositional phrase with von or durch. An exception is the indefinite pronoun man as a subject in the active, which cannot occur in the passive.
2. A finite verb in the active is converted into the passive form (werden + participle II).
3. The dative, genitive or prepositional objects (complements) in the active sentence keep their function in the passive sentence.
4. Adverbial prases in the active sentence keep their function in the passive sentence.
5. If there is no accusative object in the active sentence, then es is the subject of the passive sentence.
6. The word es comes first in the sentence if no other sentence part takes the place before the verb: Es wurde viel gelacht.
7. The verb that changes in person is always in the 3rd person singular. In the dependent clause, the word es is omitted: Ich glaube, dass viel gelacht wurde.
8. The impersonal passive is almost never used in official and written language
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Grammar Contents
Passive without subject
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- With some verbs which must have object in dative
For example:
Ihr wird geholfen.
Leider wurde ihr nicht zugehört.
Object in dative case remains in dative in passive sentence - Verbs which do not have object in accusative case
For example:
Am Freitag wurde nicht gearbeitet.
Es wurde am Freitag nicht gearbeitet. - Reflexive verbs
For example:
Jetzt wird sich aber mal gewaschen!
The personal pronoun sich is not omitted.
These sentences are used in spoken language and do not sound very polite, they are often used with the particle aber (mal). They have a commanding character.
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