Conditional Passive: géif ... ginn

Level 6

Combine géif with the passive: D'Strooss géif nei gemaach ginn. (The road would be redone.) The participle and ginn go to the end.

How It Works

1. Would be done
Take the passive with ginn and replace gëtt with géif:

  • D'Strooss gëtt nei gemaach. (The road is being redone.)
  • D'Strooss géif nei gemaach ginn, wann d'Gemeng Suen hätt. (The road would be redone if the municipality had money.)

2. Would have been done
The past passive uses sinn, so the past conditional uses wier:

  • Wann d'Police de Mäerder net matgeholl hätt, da wier e gelyncht ginn. (If the police had not taken the murderer away, he would have been lynched.)

3. With modal verbs
Use misst (would have to) or kéint (could) with the participle and ginn: D'Kupplung misst ersat ginn. In the past, use hätt, then the modal in its infinitive form, as in conditional perfect with modals: Dat hätt misse gemaach ginn.

4. In wann clauses
The same forms appear after wann: Et wier gutt, wann déi maximal Lautstäerkt géif erofgesat ginn. See géif in wann clauses.

Examples (6)

  1. D'Strooss géif nei gemaach ginn, wann d'Gemeng Suen hätt.

    The road would be redone if the municipality had money.

  2. Et wier gutt, wann déi maximal Lautstäerkt an den Diskoe géif erofgesat ginn.

    It would be good if the maximum volume in clubs were turned down.

  3. De Garagist sot, d'Kupplung misst ersat ginn.

    The mechanic said the clutch would have to be replaced.

  4. Wann d'Police de Mäerder net matgeholl hätt, da wier e gelyncht ginn.

    If the police had not taken the murderer away, he would have been lynched.

    Past conditional passive with wier.

  5. Wier de Blesséierten net direkt operéiert ginn, wier en ënnerlech verblutt.

    If the injured man had not been operated on immediately, he would have bled to death internally.

    A condition that starts with the verb instead of wann.

  6. Ouni staatlech Contributioun hätt dee Projet net kënnen ëmgesat ginn.

    Without state funding, the project could not have been carried out.

    Hätt + modal infinitive + participle + ginn.

Common Mistakes

  • Using hätt instead of wier in the past conditional passive.

    Hien hätt direkt operéiert ginn, wann den Dokter do gewiescht wier.
    Hie wier direkt operéiert ginn, wann den Dokter do gewiescht wier.

    The passive perfect uses sinn (ass operéiert ginn), so its conditional uses wier. Hätt only appears when a modal verb is added.

  • Leaving out ginn.

    D'Strooss géif nei gemaach, wann d'Gemeng Suen hätt.
    D'Strooss géif nei gemaach ginn, wann d'Gemeng Suen hätt.

    The passive needs ginn at the end. Without it, the sentence has no complete verb.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Conditional Passive: géif ... ginnLevel 6

Learn This First

Before Conditional Passive: Géif ... ginn, learn The Passive With Modal Verbs and Would: Géif + Infinitive.

Words in This Pattern

hunnmussen