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WORD GRAMMAR
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Verb
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Verb
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SENTENCE GRAMMAR
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Impersonal passive
CA65
In the impersonal passive, an active voice sentence, which does not contain an accusative object, is converted into the passive voice. This means that the active voice sentence either contains an intransitive verb or a transitive verb that does not take an accusative object.
Below are some examples with intransitive verbs:
active | passive | ||||||||
Die Kinder | helfen | den Eltern | im Haushalt. | Es | wird | den Eltern | im Haushalt | geholfen. | |
Den Eltern | wird | im Haushalt | geholfen. | ||||||
Im Haushalt | wird | den Eltern | geholfen. |
active | passive | ||||||||
Die Studenten | warten | seit Stunden | auf den Professor. | Es | wird | seit Stunden | auf den Professor | gewartet. | |
Auf den Professor | wird | seit Stunden | gewartet. | ||||||
Seit Stunden | wird | auf den Professor | gewartet. |
active | passive | |||||
Das Publikum | klatscht. | Es | wird geklatscht. |
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 type (werden + past participle). | |
Dative, genitive and prepositional objects of the active voice sentence retain their function in the passive voice sentence. | |
Adverbial complements in the active voice sentence retain their function in the passive voice sentence. | |
If the active voice sentence has no accusative object, the word "es" becomes the subject of the passive voice sentence. However, if another constituent of the sentence occupies the first position, "es" must be omitted and is not mentioned in the sentence. |
* The subject of the active voice sentence can be mentioned in the passive voice sentence by using a prepositional phrase introduced by the prepositions von or durch. The indefinite pronoun man is an exception; it cannot be mentioned as an agent in the passive voice sentence when it is the subject of the active voice sentence.
An example of transitive verbs that do not take an accusative object:
active | passive | ||||||||
Man | tanzt | auf Partys | bis früh morgens. | Es | wird | auf Partys | bis früh morgens | getanzt. | |
Bis früh morgens | wird | auf Partys | getanzt. | ||||||
Auf Partys | wird | bis früh morgens | getanzt. |