I. Recap
The passive voice is a way of highlighting an action done to an object without necessarily mentioning the subject or the individual who is completing the action. The “true” passive voice is constructed with a form of werden + the past participle of the verb. In this lesson, we will discuss the difference between the “true” and “statal” passive voice.| Die Gitarre wird oft gespielt. The guitar is often (being) played. Dieser Hotelgast konnte nicht erreicht werden. This hotel guest couldn’t be reached. Das Haus wurde frisch gestrichen. The house was (being) freshly painted. |
II. “True” Passive vs. Statal Passive
In two of the examples above, we see that a form of the word “to be” could be added to the translation to highlight that the action was/is in process. This is generally stressed with the “true” passive (when werden is used).The statal passive is when sein replaces werden and thus the process is no longer highlighted but rather the state or quality of object.
True passive:Das Auto wird verkauft.The car is being sold (someone is in the process of selling it). Statal passive:Das Auto ist verkauft.The car is sold (marking that sale as complete). |
True passive:Das Museum wird oft besucht.The museum is being visited often (stress on the act of visiting). Statal passive:Das Museum ist gut besucht.The museum is well visited (stress on the state of the museum). |
As you can see, in the present tense, the “true” passive conveys more of the process rather than the completion of the action. In the past tense, this is not always as clear.
| Das Restaurant wurde geschlossen. The restaurant was (being) closed. Das Restaurant war geschlossen. The restaurant was closed. |
We see in this example the stress on the action of closing the restaurant versus the stress on this state of the restaurant being closed.
| Die Republik wurde 1918 gegründet. The Republic was (being) established. Damit war die Republik gegründet. Then the Republic was established. |
| Das Buch wird gegenwärtig geschrieben. The book is being written currently. Das Buch ist endlich geschrieben. The book is finally written. |