Passive in the present (werden + past participle)
Passiv Präsens (werden + Partizip II)
The present passive shifts focus to the action; the doer is unimportant or unknown.
Structure
werden (konjugiert) + Partizip II am Satzende
werden (conjugated) + past participle at the end of the clause
Details
- Part of Speech
- Voice
- Register
- Standard
Explanation
What it is. The present passive (Vorgangspassiv) shifts attention to the action itself. The person doing it (the agent) is unimportant, unknown, or deliberately left out - what matters is what happens.
How it is formed. Conjugated werden in second position + Partizip II at the end of the clause:
- werden (conjugated) + ... + .
The of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive: Man repariert das Auto → Das Auto wird repariert.
Examples.
- Das Auto wird in der Werkstatt repariert. - The car is being repaired at the garage.
- Hier werden viele Sprachen gesprochen. - Many languages are spoken here.
- Das Formular wird sofort bearbeitet. - The form is processed immediately.
Common mistakes. The auxiliary is werden, not sein: Das Haus wird gebaut (action), whereas Das Haus ist gebaut is the state passive (Zustandspassiv = already finished). English "is being done" maps to wird ... gemacht, not ist.
About Passive in the present (werden + past participle)
The present passive shifts focus to the action; the doer is unimportant or unknown.
Formed with the conjugated present of werden plus the at the end. The active becomes the passive ; the agent is often dropped.
Das Vorgangspassiv im stellt die Handlung in den Vordergrund.
Caution
The passive auxiliary is 'werden', not 'sein': 'Das Haus wird gebaut'. The accusative object of the active sentence becomes the subject.