Personal passive

CA64

In the personal passive, an active sentence that contains an accusative object is converted into the passive voice. This means that the active sentence contains a transitive verb and its accusative object. For example:

active				passive
Der Mechaniker	repariert	den Motor.		Der Motor	wird repariert.

The following changes take place:

	The subject of the active voice sentence is not mentioned in the passive voice sentence.*
	The active voice finite verb switches to its passive voice type (werden + past participle).
	The accusative object of the active voice sentence becomes the subject of the passive voice sentence.

* The subject of the active voice sentence can be mentioned in the passive voice sentence by using a prepositional phrase introduced by prepositions von or durch. The indefinite pronoun man is an exception, when it is the subject of the active voice sentence, as it cannot be mentioned as an agent in a passive voice sentence.

CA64A

If there are more than one objects in the the active voice sentence (in dative, genitive or prepositional), they undergo no change during the active to passive voice conversion. Here is an example:

active					passive
Die Eltern	schenken	den Kindern	eine Reise.		Eine Reise	wird	den Kindern	geschenkt.

Conversion rule:

Dative, genitive and prepositional objects in the active voice sentence retain their function in the passive voice sentence.

CA64B

Adverbial complements of all kinds that are contained in the active voice sentence retain their function in the passive voice sentence and undergo no change. Here is an example:

active
Das Elektrogeschäft	informiert	Interessenten	regelmäßig	über neue Produkte.

passive
Interessenten	werden	regelmäßig	über neue Produkte.	informiert.

Conversion rule:

Adverbial complements in the active voice sentence retain their function in the passive voice sentence.