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The Passive Voice

The Passive Voice. The Passive Voice. If a sentence is in the active voice, usually the subject is the topic and the verb flows left to right, exerting the influence of the subject on the object. Ex. Ich kaufe einen Kuli. “I” being the subject, “to buy” is the verb and “a pen” is the object.

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The Passive Voice

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  1. The Passive Voice

  2. The Passive Voice If a sentence is in the active voice, usually the subject is the topic and the verb flows left to right, exerting the influence of the subject on the object. Ex. Ich kaufe einen Kuli. “I” being the subject, “to buy” is the verb and “a pen” is the object.

  3. But there are times when the doer of the deed is not known, as in instructional manuals – “The engine is started by pressing lever B.” And there are times when we would rather suppress the subject – “The window was broken late last night.”

  4. The passive voice, by reversing the flow of the verb, allows us to disguise the object as a subject and place it in front, where the topic of a sentence is expected to be. Meanwhile the true subject, if stated at all, has very little news value and is therefore in the middle of the sentence in a prepositional phrase.

  5. Examples • Caesar was stabbed by Brutus. • The child was struck by the car. • The store was robbed last night. • Mary was given a book by John. • He is snubbed by her.

  6. Active and Passive Forms The following sentence show that the direct object of a verb used actively become the subject of the same verb used in the passive voice, and that the past participle occurs in each tense of the passive voice. Other characteristics of the passive in German are:

  7. Active and Passive Forms 1.In the present tense the auxiliary is werden(conjugated) and ge_____ at end of sentence. 2. Worden follows the past participle in the two perfect tenses. (CP and Plusq.) 3. The future tense has werden (conjugated)a ge_____ and ends in werden. 4. Sein is always used to form the present perfekt. 5. By becomes von, which is followed by the dative case. Use von when the agent is a person. 6. Use durch when the agent is not a person.

  8. Active to Passive Voice • switch Subject (becomes agent using von + dative OR durch + accusative) • & DIRECT OBJECT (becomes subject – change to NOMINATIVE 2. IS THERE A MODAL? • If NO – skip to #3 • If YES – what tense is modal? • Leave tense same – and change infinitive to passive infinitive.

  9. Active to Passive Voice • Ex. Anna musste gestern Klavier üben. • Klavier musste von Anna geübt werden. 3. No modal? WHAT TENSE IS THE MAIN VERB? • Use SAME TENSE OF WERDEN plus the PAST PARTICIPLE of the main verb. • Ex. Mein Freund kauft Konzertkarten. = present tense • Konzertkarten werden von meinem Freund gekauft. • Ex. Der Lehrer hat die Antwort gegeben. = Perfekt • Die Antwort ist von dem Lehrer gegeben worden.

  10. Active vs. Passive The active voice: Present Er lobt den Jungen. He praises(is praising, does praise) the boy. The passive voice: Present Der Junge wird von ihm gelobt. The boy is (being) praised by him.

  11. Der Junge wird von ihm gelobt. In forming the passive voice the prepositional phrase von ihm supplies the real subject, and is optional, being of secondary news value. A colloquial translation would be “The boy gets praised by him” or, omitting the agent, “The boy gets praised.”

  12. Active vs. Passive Future Sie wird den Jungen loben. She will praise the boy. Future Der Junge wird von ihr gelobt werden. The boy will be praised by her.

  13. Active vs. Passive Simple Past Sie lobte den Jungen. She praised (was praising) the boy. Simple Past Der Junge wurde von ihr gelobt. The boy was (being) praised by her.

  14. Active vs. Passive Present Perfect Er hat den Junge gelobt. He (has) praised the boy. Present Perfect Der Junge ist von ihm gelobt worden. The boy has been (or was) praised by him.

  15. Examples Er wird von dem Friseur rasiert. He gets shaved by the barber. Das Bild wurde von dem Maler gemalt. The picture was being painted by the artist. Mein Auto wird morgen repariert werden. My car will be repaired tomorrow.

  16. Problems – Present Tense 1. Sabine kauft ein rotes Kleid. A: Ein rotes Kleid wirdvon Sabine gekauft. 2.Mein Nachbar baut ein neues Haus. A: Ein neues Haus wirdvon meinem Nachbar gebaut.

  17. Problems – Past Tense (CP & NP) 3. Der Kellner hat das belegte Brot mit Käse gebracht. A: Das belegte Brot mit Käse istvonihm gebracht worden. 4. Der Mechaniker reparierte den Audi. A: Der Audi wurdevonihm repariert.

  18. Problems – Future 4. Der Junge wird die Tür zumachen. A: Die Tür wirdbei ihm zugemacht worden. 5. Er wird den besten Platz reservieren. A: Der besten Platz wirdvon ihm reserviert werden.

  19. Review • Present:werden (conjugated), ge______ at end of sentence. • NP: wurden (conjugated), ge_______ • CP:sein (conjugated), ge ______, and worden at end of sentence. • Future:werden(conjugated), ge______, and werden at end of sentence. • Modal: keep modal in same tense, ge_____, werden at end of sentence. • PlusquamPerfekt: war, ge_____, worden

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