Day 77 - Passive Voice Part 1  Flashcards

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1
Q

If you can’t remember your English grammar lessons from high school, the passive voice is used to turn the object into the subject. Instead of saying I eat the doughnut, the passive construction: The doughnut is eaten (by me).

The construction of the passive voice in German is the same as English, but instead of using to be (sein) as the auxiliary verb, Germans use to become (werden).

Instead of by, German uses VON for animate (living) things and DURCH / MIT for inanimate things.

Remember that German sentences can take multiple tenses without changing. Ich esse can mean: I eat, I am eating, I do eat. Similarly, the passive voice has two tenses.

Study the following examples:

The doughnut is (being) eaten by me.
Der Donut wird VON mir gegessen.

The coffee is (being) made by the coffee maker.
Der Kaffee wird MIT die Kaffeemaschine gemacht.

Modal verbs take the spot of werden, and will move it to the end of the sentence.

The doughnut can be eaten.
Der Donut KANN gegessen WERDEN.

The coffee must be made.
Der Kaffee MUSS gemacht WERDEN.

To make a past tense passive sentence, simply use the past tense of werden or the modal.

Study the following examples:

The doughnut was (being) eaten.
Der Doughnut WURDE gegessen.

The coffee was (being) made.
Der Kaffee WURDE gemacht.

The doughnut could be eaten.
Der Donut KONNTE gegessen werden.

The coffee had to be made.
Der Kaffee MUSSTE gemacht werden.

A
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2
Q

Day 77 Grammar Cards

  1. Passive voice (werden) + (past participle)
  2. Modal passive (modal) + (past participle) + werden
  3. by (passive) von (animate) durch / mit (inanimate)
A
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3
Q
  1. VERURTEILEN…to judge. (Urteil = verdict)
  2. BESETZEN…to occupy
  3. FALTEN…to fold
  4. EROBERN…to conquer
  5. ÜBERZEUGEN…to convince / persuade
  6. BEIßEN…to bite beißen |biss, gebissen|
  7. BESCHÜTZEN…to protect
  8. ZU.GEBEN…to admit / acknowledge zu’geben (gibt zu) |gab zu, zugegeben|
  9. UNTERBRECHEN…to interrupt unterbrechen |unterbrach, unterbrochen|
  10. ÜBERSETZEN…to translate
A
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4
Q
  1. He was (being) judged by the jury.
A

Er wurde von der Jury verurteilt.

condemn
verurteilen, verdammen, verwerfen, verteufeln, anklagen, verdonnern

sentence
verurteilen, bestrafen, verdonnern

convict
überführen, verurteilen

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5
Q
  1. The bathroom is (being) occupied.
A

Das Badezimmer wird besetzt.

hold a position. occupy; → besetzen; · have (taken) control of. occupy; → besetzen; · to occupy without permission. squat; → besetzen;

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6
Q
  1. The paper is (being) folded.
A

Das Papier wird gefaltet.

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7
Q
  1. The city was (being) conquered.
A

Die Stadt wurde erobert.

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8
Q
  1. She is (being) convinced.
A

Sie wird überzeugt.

zeugen (weak, third-person singular present zeugt, past tense zeugte, past participle gezeugt, auxiliary haben). to beget, father, procreate; to testify

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9
Q
  1. The lip was (being) bitten.
A

Die Lippe wurde gebissen.

gebissen. past participle of beißen

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10
Q
  1. We are (being) protected.
A

Wir werden beschützt.

protected from harm and unpleasantness of all kinds

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11
Q
  1. The truth was (being) admitted.
A

Die Wahrheit wurde zugegeben.

admit
zugeben, zulassen, eingestehen, bekennen, einräumen, zugestehen

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12
Q
  1. The meeting was (being) interrupted.
A

Die Sitzung wurde unterbrochen.

unterbrochen. past participle of unterbrechen

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13
Q
  1. The book is (being) translated.
A

Das Buch wird übersetzt.

to act as an interpreter. interpret; → dolmetschen; übersetzen; · to change text from one language to another. translate; → übersetzen

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