Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS
GERMAN GRAMMAR
AND USAGE
BASICS OF GERMAN GRAMMAR
kripal singh
2007
Home
Grammar of German
Reference
Home | Grammar
A. Gender
B. Case
1. Nominative case
2. Accusative case
3. Dative case
4. Genitive case
C. Der-word noun modifiers
D. Ein-word noun modifiers
E. Plurals of nouns
Gender :
The grammatical gender of a German noun, together with its case, determines the article, and
the endings on the modifiers and adjectives preceding the noun. German has three
grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
Masculine Feminine Neuter
People der Sohn die Tochter das Kind
Objects der Stuhl die Tür das Buch
Case:
The function of a noun in a German sentence determines its case, which together with its
gender determines the article, and the endings on modifiers and adjectives preceding the noun
(or on the noun itself).
Nominative Der junge Mann sitzt hier. The young man is sitting here.
Accusative Kennen Sie den jungen Mann? Do you know the young man?
Dative Ich gebe es dem jungen Mann. I give it to the young man.
Genitive Wie ist der Name des jungen Mannes? What is the young man's name?
Summaries
Definite and indefinite der-word noun modifier ein-word noun modifier
articles endings endings
Note that these articles differ from the nominative case articles only for masculine nouns.
Some masculine nouns, primarily those which denote a male person, add an -(e)n ending to
the noun itself in the accusative case. These are called masculine N-nouns. They are listed in
the dictionary as with an extra -en ending before the plural ending, e.g., der Mensch, -en, -en.
The following noun modifiers use the same endings as the definite article. (das= -es, die= -e
):
The endings on der-word noun modifiers for all genders and cases are as follows:
The following noun modifiers use the same endings as the indefinite article:
Possessive adjectives
and
kein = no, not any
The endings on ein-word noun modifiers for all genders and cases are as follows:
These are the same endings as those on der-word noun modifiers, except for the three forms
with no ending.
Plurals of nouns
A. Personal pronouns
1. du and ihr vs. Sie
2. Possible meanings of sie
3. Gender agreement
4. The non-specific pronoun man
B. Interrogative pronouns
C. Demonstrative pronouns
D. Relative pronouns
E. Reflexive pronouns
The proper German pronoun for "you" depends upon your closeness to the person you are
addressing:
Sie and its related forms are used when addressing one or several persons whom you
would normally call by the last name.
Du and its related forms are used when addressing one person (ihr more than one
person) whom you normally would call by the first name.
Herr Schmidt, kennen Sie meine Frau? Mr. Schmidt, are you acquainted with my wife?
Robert, hast du meinen Hut? Robert, do you have my hat?
Kinder, ihr seid zu laut! Children, you are too loud!
1. When it is capitalized and does not begin a sentence, it always means "you" (formal -
singular or plural).
2. When it is not capitalized and appears as the subject of a singular verb, it means "she" ("it" if
it refers to an object of feminine grammatical gender).
3. When it is not capitalized and appears as the subject of a plural verb, it means "they".
4. When it is used as the direct object of a verb, it can mean "her" ("it" if it refers to an object
of feminine grammatical gender), or "them".
Gender agreement
In English, only pronouns referring to people show gender differentiation (the woman -
she/her, the man - he/him). In German, pronouns referring to objects also show gender
differentiation. Thus er / ihn / ihm are used to refer to masculine nouns, sie / sie / ihr to refer
to feminine nouns, and es / es / ihm to refer to neuter nouns. All translate into English as "it."
The pronoun man can be translated as "one, they, you (in an unspecified reference), people,
someone," etc. It is used for generalized assertions or questions, and in substitutes for passive
voice expressions. It only appears as the subject of a singular verb. The corresponding
accusative and dative forms are einen and einem.
Man lernt viel durch Lesen. One learns a lot through reading.
Man sagt, es soll heiss werden. They say it's supposed to get hot.
Man hat das schon erklärt. Someone already explained that.
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
Man tut, was einem gefällt. People do whatever pleases them.
Interrogative pronouns
Interrogative pronouns introduce questions. In the various cases, their forms are as follows:
Demonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns emphasize the thing or person being referred to. In German, they
have the same form as the definite articles, except for the dative plural and genitive singular
and plural and plural forms.
Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the sentence. They are used most frequently
with reflexive verbs in either the accusative or dative case, depending upon the meaning of
the verb.
A. Regular verbs
B. Verbs with stem vowel change
C. Present tense verb form - meanings
D. The verb sein (to be)
E. The verb haben (to have)
F. The verb werden (to become, get)
G. The verb lassen (to let, have done)
H. Verbs with separable prefixes
I. Modal auxiliary verbs
J. Command forms
K. Reflexive verbs
L. Verbs with special objects
M. The verb expressions for "like, not like, would like"
N. es gibt (there is, are)
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
Regular verbs
The regular verbs in the present tense follow the pattern: infinitive stem + personal ending
Personal pronouns
er geht
sie geht sie gehen
es geht
A number of verbs change their stem vowel in the du and er / sie / es forms of the present
tense. The stem vowel changes are a > ä, e > ie, and e > i.
Personal pronouns
er sieht
sie sieht sie sehen
es sieht
The one-word present tense form in German can correspond to one- or multi-word present
tense verb forms in English.
Personal pronouns
er ist
sie ist sie sind
es ist
Personal pronouns
er hat
sie hat sie haben
es hat
Personal pronouns
er wird
sie wird sie werden
es wird
Personal pronouns
er lässt
sie lässt sie lassen
es lässt
Many German verbs have a prefix in their infinitive form, which separates from the verb in
certain sentence structures and appears at the end of the phrase. If the sentence structure
requires that the whole verb appear at the end of the phrase (e.g., in dependent clauses), the
two parts are unified; if not, they are separated.
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
List of separable prefix verbs
Modal auxiliary verbs express relations (such as permission, obligation, ability, etc.) between
the doers of actions and the actions themselves. The singular forms of German modal
auxiliary verbs use special stems.
The present tense forms of the modal auxiliary verbs use the special stem in the singular and
the infinitive stem in the plural. The ich- and er / sie / es-forms take no personal ending.
Personal pronouns
Command forms
The form of a command depends upon the speaker's relationship to the person(s) being
addressed. Three forms are possible:
1. the du form, for one person whom one calls by the first name,
2. the ihr form, for several people whom one calls by the first name,
3. the Sie form, for one or several people whom one calls by the last name.
Commands to persons whom the speaker addresses with du use the verb stem associated with
du in statements and questions, but with no ending or with an optional -e ending. This means
that verbs with 1) an e > i or 2) an e > ie vowel change use the changed vowel in the
command form. Verbs with 3) an a > ä or au > äu vowel change, however, use the original
vowel in the command form. 4) Some irregular forms occur.
Commands to a group of persons whom the speaker addresses individually with du use the
same verb form as that associated with ihr in statements and questions.
Commands to a person or group of persons whom the speaker addresses with Sie use the
same verb form as that associated with Sie in statements and questions. The pronoun Sie is
included in the command. The command form for sein (to be) uses an irregular form.
Reflexive verbs
A reflexive verb requires a reflexive pronoun when it refers to an action affecting the subject
of the sentence. Generally, the same verb can also be used non-reflexively, if it refers to an
action affecting someone or something other than the subject. The reflexive pronoun can be
either in the accusative or dative case, depending upon its function in the sentence.
Some verbs take dative, rather than accusative objects. Even though they translate into direct
object expressions in English, they can often be interpreted as a giving of something to
somebody, and this implies that the object is really an indirect object.
Sie hilft mir mit meiner Arbeit. She helps (gives assistance to) me with my work.
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
Other German verbs take genitive objects. They belong more to a literary than a
conversational style, and usually translate into English expressions containing "of".
Ich entsinne mich dessen nicht. I don't remember (have no recollection of) that.
1. gern + verb
2. gefallen + zu + verb infinitive
1. möchten + object
2. hätten gern + object
To make a general statement or question about the existence of something, German uses the
expression es gibt. Since the thing referred to is the direct object of the verb geben, it appears
in the accusative case. The verb is always singular, because its subject is always es.
Es gibt viele Autos in den USA. There are lots of cars in the U.S.
Gibt es eine Bäckerei in der Nähe? Is there a bakery in the vicinity?
Hier gibt es keinen Spielplatz für die Kinder. There is no playground here for the children.
Word order
A. Statements
B. Questions
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
C. Commands
D. Negation with nicht
E. Negation with kein
F. Dependent clauses
G. Direct and indirect objects of verbs
H. Time, manner and place expressions
I. Infinitive phrases with zu
Statements
In statements, the conjugated verb always constitutes the second component of the sentence.
Questions
In questions which ask for a specific piece of information, the word order follows the pattern:
Question word(QW) - verb(V) - subject(S) - predicate components(PC)
Was(QW) machen(V) Sie(S) heute abend(PC)? What are you doing this evening?
In questions which ask for a yes or no response, the word order follows the pattern:
Verb(V) - subject(S) - predicate components(PC)
Gehen(V) Sie(S) in die Stadt(PC)? Are you going into the city?
Commands
1) Bleiben Sie noch ein paar Minuten, Frau Petersen! Stay a few minutes more, Mrs. Petersen!
2) Lass mich in Ruhe, Markus! Leave me in peace, Markus!
Macht eure Hausaufgaben, Kinder! Do your homework, children!
Position of nicht
The position of nicht in a negative sentence varies, but generally follows these rules:
Nicht follows 1) the verb in second position in a declarative statement, 2) the subject in a
question, 3) objects of the verb (especially pronoun objects), and 4) adverbs of specific time.
Nicht precedes 1) predicate adjectives (i.e., those which complete the meaning of a linking
verb, such as sein or bleiben), 2) predicate nouns (same definition as for predicate adjectives),
3) adverbs (except for those denoting specific time), 4) prepositional phrases.
Since there is considerable flexibility in the position of nicht, one should simply place it
where it sounds right after some practice.
The endings added to kein are determined by the gender and case of the noun following it.
Dependent clauses
Dependent clauses are sentence parts which contain the components of a complete sentence
(subject - verb - predicate), but require another (independent) clause to complete their
meaning. They can be introduced in a number of ways:
1. by a subordinating conjunction
2. by a relative pronoun.
1) Wir bleiben zu Hause, weil es regnet. We are staying at home, because it is raining.
2) Der Mann, der dort sitzt, ist Amerikaner. The man who is sitting there is an American.
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
In a dependent clause, the conjugated verb appears at the end of the clause. All other
elements of the clause remain in their normal position.
Ich weiss nicht, ob er schon zu Hause ist. I don't know if he is already at home.
Das Auto, das vor der Bank steht, gehört The car that is standing in front of the bank
meinem Vater. belongs to my father.
When a dependent clause precedes an independent clause, the conjugated verbs are the last
component of the first clause and the first component of the second clause. Thus the two
verbs always appear on either side of the comma which separates the clauses.
Wenn ich ihn sehe, grüsse ich ihn von Ihnen. When I see him, I'll give him your greetings.
Dass sie das gesagt hat, überrascht mich. That she said that, surprises me.
When a verb has a direct and an indirect object, the direct object is
1) Wir geben dem Mann das Buch. We give the man the book.
2) Wir geben es dem Mann. We give it to the man.
Sie fährt heute(T) mit dem Bus(M) in die Stadt(P). She is travelling by bus to the city today.
Sie fährt morgen(GT) um zwei Uhr(ST) mit dem She is travelling by train to Frankfurt
Zug(M) nach Frankfurt(P). tomorrow at two o'clock.
Many German expressions require an infinitive phrase with zu to complete them. The zu +
infinitive construction appears at the end of its phrase, rather than at the beginning.
Wir versuchen, das Auto zu reparieren. We are trying to repair the car.
Es gelingt uns aber nicht, das zu tun. But we are not successful in doing so.
Prepositions
A. Introduction to prepositions
B. Accusative prepositions
C. Dative prepositions
D. Accusative/dative prepositions
E. Genitive prepositions
F. Da- and wo-compounds
G. Introduction to prepositions
Accusative prepositions
für - for
gegen - against
ohne - without
Sie kommen ohne die Kinder. They are coming without the children.
Er ist gegen den Plan. He is against the plan.
Wir machen das für dich. We are doing that for you.
Ich fahre um die Stadt. I drive around the city.
Dative prepositions
ausser - besides
mit - with
Accusative/dative prepositions
The accusative / dative prepositions and their most common meanings are:
2) Position at a location
3) Undirected motion within an area.
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
1) Die Frau geht an die Tür. The woman goes to the door.
2) Ein Mann steht vor ihr. A man is standing in front of her.
3) Sie bummeln in der Stadt herum. They stroll around in the city.
Genitive prepositions
When a preposition has a pronoun object, and the pronoun does not refer to a person, the
prepositional phrase often takes the form of a da-compound (in statements) or a wo-
compound (in questions). Prepositions beginning with a vowel require an -r- in the middle of
the compound. Some prepositions do not form such compounds.
Adjectives and adverbs have the same form in German. The context in which they are used
indicates how to interpret them.
Endings on adjectives
When an adjective precedes the noun it modifies, it takes an ending. The form of the ending
depends upon several factors: the gender and case of the noun, and the type of word which
precedes the adjective-noun combination.
Sie sehen das schöne Haus an. They look at the beautiful house.
Sie wollen ein schönes Haus haben. They want to have a beautiful house.
Sie bauen schöne Häuser. They build beautiful houses.
Significant or "strong" adjective endings correspond to those of the der-word noun modifiers.
These endings indicate the gender and case of the noun the adjective modifies.
For the genitive masculine and neuter, the adjective ending is -en rather than -es, because the
noun carries a "strong" ending.
These endings are used when the word preceding the adjective carries no ending, or the
adjective is unpreceded.
They are also used after the words viele, mehrere and einige.
Non-significant, or "weak" endings are either -e or -en. They indicate nothing about the
gender or case of the noun the adjective modifies.
These endings are used when the word preceding the adjective carries a significant ending.
Kaufen Sie dieses interessante Buch? Are you buying this interesting book?
Es gibt keine grossen Kaufhäuser hier. There are no large department stores here.
Welcher bekannte Mann hat das gesagt? What famous man said that?
Mit solchen schlechten Mitarbeitern kann man With such bad colleagues, you can't
nichts erreichen. accomplish anything.
Adjectives and adverbs often appear in conjunction with special 1) accusative, 2) dative or 3)
genitive expressions.
1) Ich bin solches Wetter nicht gewohnt. I am not accustomed to such weather.
2) Das ist mir bekannt. That is familiar to me.
3) Es war nicht der Mühe wert. It wasn't worth the effort.
1) Positive
2) Comparative
3) Superlative
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
Although German and English are somewhat similar in the way they form adjective and
adverb comparisons, there are a number of significant differences. For example, the German
forms add adjective endings where required.
1) Ich habe ein schnelles Auto. I have a fast car.
2) Martin hat ein schnelleres Auto. Martin has a faster car.
3) Beate hat das schnellste Auto. Beate has the fastest car.
Positive comparisons in German use the expression so...wie (as...as), or genauso...wie (just
as...as) with the adjective or adverb.
Dieses Buch kostet genauso viel wie jenes. This book costs just as much as that one.
Heute ist es nicht so warm wie gestern. Today it is not as warm as yesterday.
Ich habe einen genauso schönen Mantel wie du. I have just as pretty a coat as you.
In German, all adjectives and adverbs form their comparative by adding an -er to the positive
form. None use the equivalent of "more," as for multi-syllable English adjectives and
adverbs. Most one-syllable German adjectives and adverbs with stem vowel a, o, or u change
that vowel to its Umlaut equivalent.
Das Wetter wird immer heisser. The weather is getting hotter and hotter.
Die Menschen leben länger. People are living longer.
Er will ein neueres Auto haben. He wants to have a newer car.
Beate ist intelligenter als ich. Beate is more intelligent than I.
As the last example shows, German uses als as the connecting word for comparisons ("than"
in English).
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
A number of irregular forms exist.
German adjectives and adverbs form their superlative with -(e)st + adjective ending. The -e-
is used after a t, d, or an s sound.
The one-syllable adjectives and adverbs with stem vowel a, o, or u which change that vowel
to its Umlaut equivalent in the comparative do so in the superlative as well.
Adjectives preceding the nouns they modify use the form definite article + adjective +(e)st +
adjective ending. Adverbs and predicate adjectives use the form am + adjective +(e)st +
adjective ending.
Hans ist der intelligenteste Junge in der Klasse. Hans is the most intelligent boy in the class.
Wie heisst der längste Fluss der Welt? What is the name of the longest river in the world?
Ich finde diese Frage am schwierigsten. I find this question to be the most difficult.
The simple past tense, sometimes called the narrative past, is used to relate a sequence of
events. It appears primarily in written German, e.g., in newspapers, novels, etc.
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
Ich kam, ich sah, ich siegte.
I came, I saw, I conquered.
Der Morgen war schön, aber es regnete am
The morning was beautiful, but it rained in the
Nachmittag.
afternoon.
Der Politiker versprach viel, und machte
The politician promised a lot, but did little.
wenig.
Regular verbs form the simple past by inserting an -(e)t- tense marker between the verb stem
and the personal ending.
Personal pronouns
kaufen = to buy
er kaufte
sie kaufte sie kauften
es kaufte
Verbs whose stem ends in -d, -t, or a consonant combination such as -gn use the -e- as part of
the tense marker. Example: ich arbeitete.
Some regular verbs form the simple past by inserting the -(e)t- tense marker between an
altered verb stem and the personal ending.
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
Personal pronouns
denken = to think
er dachte
sie dachte sie dachten
es dachte
The simple past forms for the regular verbs with altered stem may be found in the list of
principal parts of verbs.
The modal auxiliary verbs form their past tense by inserting the -t- tense marker between a
stem without an Umlaut and the personal ending.
Personal pronouns
singen = to sing
er sang
sie sang sie sangen
es sang
The simple past forms for specific irregular verbs may be found in the list of principal parts
of verbs.
The compound past tense, sometimes called the conversational past, is used to refer to
unconnected events, and is the most common past tense form in conversational German. It is
formed with a helping verb (haben or sein) and the past participle of the main verb.
Notice from the translations that this tense can correspond either to the simple or the
compound past in English.
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
Compound past tense - sein as helping verb
Sein appears as the helping verb for any verb whose meaning designates a change of location,
2) The same verb with a direct object uses haben as its helping verb.
2) for two other verbs which fit neither category - sein and bleiben.
1) Wann ist das Wetter kalt geworden? When did the weather turn cold?
2) Er ist zu Hause geblieben. He stayed at home.
The verbs which use sein as a helping verb may be found in the list of principal parts of
verbs.
Regular verbs form their past participle according to the following pattern:
ge + stem + (e)t.
Ich habe das nicht gesagt. I didn't say that.
Haben Sie viel gearbeitet? Did you work a lot?
If the verb begins with an unaccented syllable the ge- prefix is not used.
Sie hat das schon erklärt. She has already explained that.
Some verbs form their past participles like a regular verb, but use the same altered stem as for
the simple past:
If the verb begins with an unaccented syllable the ge- prefix is not used.
The past participle forms for the regular verbs with altered stem may be found in the list of
principal parts of verbs.
Modal auxiliary verbs form their past participle using the same stem as for the simple past:
Unsere Kinder haben das nie gedurft. Our children were never permitted (to do) that.
This form of the past participle appears only when the modal auxiliary is used alone, which is
infrequent.
More often, the modal is used in conjunction with another verb, and the past participle
becomes part of a double infinitive construction.
Unsere Kinder haben nie fernsehen dürfen. Our children were never permitted to watch television.
Irregular verbs form their past participles by using a verb stem unique to each verb, according
to the following pattern:
ge + verb stem + en
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
Wir haben den Film nicht gesehen. We haven't seen the film.
Du bist sehr schnell gelaufen. You ran very fast.
If the verb begins with an unaccented syllable the ge- prefix is not used.
Kurt hat gestern einen Brief bekommen. Kurt received a letter yesterday.
The past participle forms for specific irregular verbs may be found in the list of principal
parts of verbs.
The past perfect tense refers to a past event which occurred before another past event. It
consists of the simple past form of the helping verb (haben or sein) and the past participle of
the main verb.
The principal parts of a verb are its infinitive form, present tense er / sie / es-form, simple
past form, and past participle with helping verb. For irregular verbs, these must be learned
individually.
Future tense
The future tense is formed with the helping verb werden and the infinitive of the main verb.
The future perfect tense is used to refer to an event that will have happened before another
future event.
Bis Ende dieser Woche wird er sein Examen By the end of this week, he will have
bestanden haben. passed his exam.
With the adverbs wohl or schon, it refers to a probable event in the past.
Er wird sein Examen schon bestanden haben. He probably has already passed his exam.
The future perfect tense is formed with the future tense helping verb werden and the perfect
infinitive (past participle + infinitive of its compound past helping verb) of the main verb.
The present time subjunctive of a regular verb has exactly the same form as the simple past
tense of that verb (1). Thus the conditional with würde is generally used instead (2).
The present time subjunctive of a regular verb with altered stem uses the simple past tense
form of the verb, but with an Umlaut over the stem vowel. However, the verbs kennen,
nennen, and rennen use e rather than ä as their stem vowel.
The present time subjunctive of a modal auxiliary verb uses the simple past tense form of the
verb, with an Umlaut over the stem vowel, except for sollen and wollen. Subjunctive modal
auxiliary verbs are especially important for making polite requests.
Ich möchte zwei Glas Bier. I would like two glasses of beer.
Dürfte ich eine Frage stellen? Might I ask a question?
Sollten wir sie einladen? Shouldn't we invite them?
Könntest du mir helfen? Could you help me?
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
The present time subjunctive of an irregular verb uses as its base the simple past tense verb
stem, but with an Umlaut over the stem vowel, if it is a, o, or u. The subjunctive also uses
different endings from the simple past for most forms. Thus even verbs with an i, e, or ie
stem vowel in the simple past, which can carry no Umlaut, are nevertheless nearly always
recognizable as subjunctive forms.
The pattern for the present time subjunctive of irregular verbs is:
Personal pronouns
er sänge
sie sänge sie sängen
es sänge
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
The past time subjunctive consists of the subjunctive form of haben or sein as the helping
verb, and the past participle of the main verb.
When a sentence contains a modal auxiliary verb in combination with a main verb, the past
time subjunctive consists of the subjunctive form of haben, and the modal auxiliary and main
verbs as a "double infinitive" at the end of the clause.
Ihr hättet mich anrufen sollen. You should have called me.
Ich hätte ihm alles erklären können. I could have explained everything to him.
Wir hätten in London umsteigen müssen. We would have had to transfer in London.
The subjunctive form of werden, in combination with the infinitive of the main verb, is often
used instead of the present time subjunctive of the main verb, particularly when the
subjunctive of the main verb looks the same as its simple past tense. This würde construction
is also generally used in the "then" clause of an "if...then" statement.
Würdest du mir bitte erklären, was das Would you please explain to me, what that
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
bedeutet? means?
Wenn ich Sie wäre, würde ich das rote Kleid If I were you, I would buy the red dress.
kaufen.
The special subjunctive is used primarily in written and oral news reports for indirect quotes
(1). It also appears in directives or expressions of good will (2).
The special subjunctive uses the infinitive stem of the verb for all of its forms, with the same
personal endings as those of the general subjunctive. Often it looks exactly the same as the
present tense, in which case the general subjunctive is used instead. Its er / sie / es form is
always distinctive, however, and thus appears most frequently.
Personal pronouns
The verb sein does not use an -e ending on the ich and er / sie / es forms.
er sei
sie sei sie seien
es sei
In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is the receiver rather than the doer of the
action expressed by the verb. In German, the passive voice is used primarily to describe
situations where the activity or process is emphasized, rather than the doer or cause of the
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
activity. If mentioned at all, the doer appears as the object of von (by), and the cause as the
object of durch (by means of).
Nur Deutsch wird von den Studenten gesprochen. Only German is being spoken by the students.
Das Haus wurde durch Feuer völlig zerstört. The house was completely destroyed by fire.
The present tense passive uses the present tense of the verb werden as a helping verb, with
the past participle of the main verb.
The other tenses in the passive voice use the tense forms of the helping verb werden, together
with the past participle of the main verb. The past participle form of werden in the passive
voice is worden, rather than geworden.
Simple past
Das Problem wurde schnell gelöst. The problem was quickly solved.
Compound past
Das Problem ist schnell gelöst worden. The problem has been quickly solved.
Past perfect
Das Problem war schnell gelöst worden. The problem had been quickly solved.
Future
Das Problem wird schnell gelöst werden. The problem will be quickly solved
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
Passive constructions with modal auxiliary verbs take the following form:
Das Badezimmer muss noch geputzt werden. The bathroom must still be cleaned.
Diese Tatsache soll in Betracht gezogen werden. This fact should be taken into account.
The modal auxiliary verb itself changes tense to form the other tenses of these constructions.
Das Badezimmer musste noch geputzt werden. The bathroom still had to be cleaned.
Das Badezimmer wird noch geputzt werden müssen. The bathroom will still have to be cleaned.
In German, the passive voice can appear without any subject of the verb, or with an
impersonal subject es. This grammatical structure places emphasis upon the action itself,
rather than upon the doer or receiver of the action. It is frequently used in official directives.
In conversational German, the passive voice is not used as frequently as in English. Instead, a
number of substitute structures can be used:
An active voice man construction can be used as a substitute for almost any passive verb
structure, with or without a modal auxiliary, in any tense.
Reflexive constructions
Many normally non-reflexive verbs can be used reflexively as a substitute for a passive
construction.
www.che.iitm.ac.in/~kripal
kripal@che.iitm.ac.in
Diese Sache wird bald erklärt.
This matter will be cleared up soon.
Diese Sache erklärt sich bald.
Reflexive constructions
Many normally non-reflexive verbs can be used reflexively as a substitute for a passive
construction.
sein (to be), used in conjunction with zu + the infinitive of a verb, translates literally as "is to
be" (done, understood, seen, etc.). Thus it can serve as a substitute for a passive construction
with können (can be), sollen (should be), or müssen (must be).
Reference
The endings of definite and indefinite articles are the same, except for those indicated by ,
where the indefinite article takes no ending. The indefinite article examples for the plural use
the ein-word kein, since ein appears only with singular nouns.
Definite articles
Indefinite articles
BEST OF LUCK