Passiv in der Vergangenheit — Passive in the past
📺 Instructional Video
An instructional video explaining this grammar topic with practical examples.
🎯 Lesson Goals
- Understand how to build the past passive (Perfekt) in German.
- Recognise the structure sein + Participle II + von + agent.
- Apply the form to everyday sentences and avoid typical errors.
📚 Core Rule
Past Passive (Perfekt) is formed with the auxiliary sein, the Partizip II of the main verb, and optionally the preposition von plus the agent (the person who performed the action).
Structure:
If the sentence is in pluperfect, use war + Partizip II + worden.| Tense | Auxiliary | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perfekt | ist | Das Buch ist von dem Autor geschrieben. | The book was written by the author. |
| Plusquamperfekt | war | Der Brief war von ihr geschickt worden. | The letter had been sent by her. |
✅ Example Sentences
| German sentence | Arabic translation |
|---|---|
| Das Haus wurde von den Nachbarn gebaut. | تم بناء البيت من قبل الجيران. |
| Der Kuchen ist von meiner Mutter gebacken. | الكعك مخبوز من أمي. |
| Die Aufgabe war von uns gelöst worden. | كانت المهمة قد حُلَّت منا. |
📝 Exercises
✏️ Fill in the blank with the correct word: Write only one word in each field.
| # | Sentence | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Das Buch ist von dem Autor ___. | |
| 2 | Der Kuchen ist von meiner Mutter ___. | |
| 3 | Die Aufgabe war von uns ___ worden. |
📖 Related Lessons
📌 *This topic is not linked to specific lessons yet.*
Notes for Learners
- The passive does not change the case of objects; the original object becomes the subject.
- The agent can be omitted when it is obvious or not important.
- In perfect passive, the past participle is always preceded by sein (not haben).
- Remember the difference between wurde (simple past passive) and ist ... geworden (perfect passive).