morgenlese
All grammar topics

B2 Upper intermediate

Passiv (passive voice)

The passive focuses on the action, not on who does it: Das Haus wird gebaut. It is built with werden in position 2 and the Partizip II at the end. In the past, use wurde: Das Haus wurde 1990 gebaut. With modal verbs, the end becomes Partizip II + werden: Das muss repariert werden.

Pattern

werden / wurde (position 2) … Partizip II (end) · modal … Partizip II + werden

Common mistake

Forgetting werden after a modal verb.

Das Auto muss repariert.

Das Auto muss repariert werden.

Quick check

  1. Die Briefe ______ jeden Morgen gebracht.

    wird · werden · wurde

    Show answer

    werden — Die Briefe is plural, so the form is werden.

  2. Das Rathaus wurde im Jahr 1890 ______.

    gebaut · bauen · baute

    Show answer

    gebaut — The passive needs the Partizip II at the end: gebaut.

  3. Der Termin muss leider verschoben ______.

    wird · worden · werden

    Show answer

    werden — With a modal verb, the passive ends in Partizip II + werden.

Stories that practice it

MorgenleseNr. 8

Das Geheimnis der verlassenen Villa

B2Mystery · 3 min

A journalist investigates an abandoned villa where strange noises are heard and lights are seen at night. What secret will she uncover?

Passiv (passive voice) · 8 new words

MorgenleseNr. 16

Das Stadtfest

B2Culture · 4 min

A small town prepares for its annual festival, and the woman who has run it for thirty years notices that her committee is suddenly keeping secrets.

Passiv (passive voice) · Genitiv (genitive case) · 8 new words

MorgenleseNr. 24

Das verschwundene Manuskript

B2Mystery · 4 min

A priceless medieval book of herbs vanishes from a small town's library, and every witness tells a different story.

Passiv (passive voice) · Konjunktiv I (indirect speech) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 32

Der Algorithmus des Verlags

B2Technology · 4 min

A publishing house lets software decide which manuscripts are worth reading. One editor doesn't trust it, and finds a novel at the very bottom of the reject pile.

Passiv (passive voice) · Konjunktiv I (indirect speech) · 8 new words

MorgenleseNr. 36

Der anonyme Spender

B2Mystery · 4 min

For a whole year, an envelope full of money turns up at a children's hospital every month. Then one note mentions something hardly anyone could know.

Konjunktiv I (indirect speech) · Passiv (passive voice) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 40

Der Bürgermeister und die Ziege

B2Comedy · 4 min

A small town votes online for its honorary citizen for the first time, and one typo on the website changes everything. The mayor does his best to fix it.

Passiv (passive voice) · Genitiv (genitive case) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 44

Der Dopingverdacht

B2Sports · 4 min

Three days after her first big win, a young cyclist is suspended for doping. She swears she has never taken anything, and her coach goes through every detail of her last few weeks.

Konjunktiv I (indirect speech) · Passiv (passive voice) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 56

Der Streik

B2Work · 4 min

The drivers of a rural bus company go on strike, and the union and the management trade statements through the press. Then, on the third day, the managing director's car won't start.

Passiv (passive voice) · Konjunktiv I (indirect speech) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 64

Der Trainerwechsel

B2Sports · 3 min

After six defeats in a row, a football club sacks its coach, the fans are furious, and the new man promises very little.

Konjunktiv I (indirect speech) · Passiv (passive voice) · 8 new words

MorgenleseNr. 68

Der verpasste Anschluss

B2Travel · 3 min

Late at night, at a small station, a connecting train is cancelled and seven strangers are stranded on an empty platform. Then the signalman comes out of his signal box with a key.

Passiv (passive voice) · Konjunktiv II (would, could) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 76

Die Ausstellung, die niemand verstand

B2Culture · 4 min

Three empty halls, a bucket and a ladder: a modern art exhibition is torn apart by the critics, and then the cleaner comes in on a Monday morning.

Passiv (passive voice) · Konjunktiv I (indirect speech) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 84

Die Betriebsversammlung

B2Work · 3 min

For weeks the canteen has been buzzing with rumours that production is moving abroad. Then the managing director calls everyone to a staff meeting.

Konjunktiv I (indirect speech) · Passiv (passive voice) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 96

Die Fusion

B2Work · 4 min

For sixty years two rival bakeries in a small town ignored each other. Now they have to become one, and the founders' grandchildren have to share a bakehouse.

Passiv (passive voice) · Genitiv (genitive case) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 100

Die gefühlte Überwachung

B2Technology · 2 min

After her company installs new monitoring software, Anna feels watched at work. Is she right to worry?

Passiv (passive voice) · 8 new words

MorgenleseNr. 108

Die Kunstausstellung

B2Culture · 2 min

A renowned gallery is preparing a new art exhibition when an unpleasant discovery is made. The team's solution surprises everyone.

Passiv (passive voice) · 8 new words

MorgenleseNr. 124

Die Restaurierung des Altarbilds

B2Culture · 4 min

A conservator is restoring a damaged altarpiece in a village church when a strange green shimmers through beneath the Madonna's cloak.

Passiv (passive voice) · Genitiv (genitive case) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 128

Die smarte Stadt

B2Technology · 4 min

A small town fills its streets and bins with sensors. The mayor promises that everything is anonymous, but the data soon shows something nobody planned for.

Passiv (passive voice) · Konjunktiv I (indirect speech) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 136

Die Vier-Tage-Woche

B2Work · 4 min

A window manufacturer tries out the four-day week for six months, and its loudest critic is a foreman who has no idea what to do with his Fridays.

Passiv (passive voice) · Genitiv (genitive case) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 140

Die Weinlese

B2Food · 3 min

Harvest time at a family winery on the steep terraces above the Danube, where every grape is still picked by hand. Then a storm is forecast.

Passiv (passive voice) · Genitiv (genitive case) · 8 new words

MorgenleseNr. 144

Ein Formular zu viel

B2Comedy · 4 min

Mr Pfeiffer only wants to put a garden gnome next to his tomatoes, but the allotment association has rules, and every rule comes with a form.

Passiv (passive voice) · Genitiv (genitive case) · 7 new words

MorgenleseNr. 148

Ein Jahr ohne Auto

B2Daily life · 4 min

A family sells their car for one year as an experiment, and their relatives are sure they won't last two weeks.

Passiv (passive voice) · Konjunktiv II (would, could) · 6 new words

MorgenleseNr. 152

Mit dem Glacier Express

B2Travel · 4 min

A teenager boards the slowest express train in the world, determined to spend eight hours on her phone, while her grandmother quietly looks out of the window.

Passiv (passive voice) · Genitiv (genitive case) · 6 new words

MorgenleseNr. 160

Zusammenleben in der WG

B2Relationships · 4 min

A student, a retired teacher and a nurse share a flat, and a cleaning rota on the fridge decides more than just who cleans the bathroom.

Passiv (passive voice) · Relativsatz (relative clause) · 7 new words