Problems
with the Passive
False Passive
Grammatically, the false passive is the same as sein
+ an adjective. This construction describes
a condition rather than an action. Das Haus
ist verkauft is the false passive, while das
Haus wird verkauft is the true passive. The
false passive sentence indicates that the house is
already sold (condition), while the true passive indicates
the house is in the process of being sold (action).
Passive with Absentee Subjects
Passive forms may have a definite or indefinite subject,
or no apparent subject at all. The accusative
object of an active sentence becomes the nominative
subject of the passive sentence. But sometimes
there is no accusative object. Since a verb
cannot be in the first position of sentence without
turning the sentence into a question, es is
used as the subject.
Man antwortet ihnen nicht is an
active sentence, but if it were turned into the passive,
there would be no accusative object. The passive
would have to be es wird ihnen nicht geantwortet.
(Here werden agrees with the apparent subject,
es.)
But if another element, such as a dative
object or time expression, can be put in the first
position, then es is omitted. Ihnen wird
nicht geantwortet can also be used as the passive.
There is no apparent subject, only an implied
es, so the form of werden remains wird
to agree with es. |
