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.