Process Passive (werden)

The Vorgangspassiv is the standard passive voice in German. It is used when the person performing the action (the agent) is unknown, unimportant, or when the speaker wants to emphasize the action itself. It describes an ongoing action, in contrast to the Zustandspassiv (State Passive), which uses sein to describe a completed state (e.g., Das Auto ist repariert.).

1. Formation & The Accusative Shift:
In the present tense, conjugate the irregular verb werden (ich werde, du wirst, er wird...) and place the Partizip II (past participle) at the very end of the sentence (the Satzklammer). When converting an active sentence to passive, the accusative object becomes the new nominative subject.
Example: Der Mechaniker repariert das Auto. → Das Auto wird repariert.

2. The Dative Exception:
Unlike accusative objects, dative objects do not become nominative subjects in the passive voice. They remain in the dative case, and the verb takes the third-person singular form. This is a type of impersonal passive. If the dative object is not in the first position, the dummy subject es is used.
Example: Der Arzt hilft dem Patienten. → Dem Patienten wird geholfen. or Es wird dem Patienten geholfen.

3. Verbs Without Passive:
Not all verbs can form a passive. Stative verbs (like haben, sein, wissen) and reflexive verbs generally cannot be used in the passive voice. Note that while intransitive verbs of motion (like gehen or kommen) cannot form a personal passive, they can be used in the impersonal passive to express a general action or command (e.g., Es wird jetzt gegangen!).

4. The Simple Past (Präteritum):
To describe actions in the past, use the Präteritum form of werden (wurde) + Partizip II.
Example: Das Haus wurde 1990 gebaut. (The house was built in 1990.)

5. The Perfect Tense:
When using the Perfekt, the specific passive auxiliary form worden is used instead of geworden (which is only used when werden is a full verb meaning 'to become').
Example: Das Auto ist repariert worden. (The car has been repaired.)

6. The Future Tense (Futur I):
To form the passive in the Future Tense, use the conjugated form of werden in the second position, and place the Partizip II + werden at the end of the sentence.
Example: Das Auto wird repariert werden. (The car will be repaired.)

7. Passive with Modal Verbs:
To express necessity or possibility in the passive, use a Modal Verb in the conjugated position and the combination of Partizip II + werden at the end.
Example: Die Hausaufgabe muss gemacht werden. (The homework must be done.)

8. Impersonal Passive:
German can form a passive even with intransitive verbs. If the sentence starts with the dummy subject Es, it is included: Es wird getanzt. However, if another element like an adverb moves to the first position, the Es disappears: Heute wird getanzt.

9. Agent vs. Means:
If you want to mention who did the action, use von + Dativ. For the means or cause, use durch + Akkusativ.