You learned the passive, felt confident, and then read "Die Tür ist geschlossen" and thought: that's just "the door is closed," that's not passive, that's just an adjective. Except it is passive — just a different kind. And the sentence "Die Tür wird geschlossen" is also passive. And they mean different things.
German makes a distinction that English glosses over entirely: the difference between an action taking place and a state that results from it. Once you see that distinction, the two passives stop being confusing and start being precise tools — each doing something the other can't.
Why German Has Two Passives
English passive covers both of these ideas with the same construction:
"The window is broken." could mean:
Someone is breaking it right now. (action)
It's in a broken state. (result)
German separates them. If you want to describe an action being performed — something actively happening — you use werden + past participle. If you want to describe the resulting state after an action is complete — what things look like now — you use sein + past participle.
The question to ask every time: Is this something happening right now, or is this how things are?
Vorgangspassiv — The Action Passive
Werden + past participle. The subject is receiving an action that is actively taking place. The focus is on the process — who or what is being acted upon, with the actor either absent or introduced separately.
Das Auto wird repariert.
The car is being repaired. (right now, in progress)
Der Brief wird geschrieben.
The letter is being written.
Das Gebäude wird abgerissen.
The building is being demolished.
Hier wird nicht geraucht.
No smoking here. (literally: smoking is not done here)
Die Regeln werden erklärt.
The rules are being explained.
The construction always follows the same pattern: conjugated werden in second position, past participle at the end of the clause. The subject of the sentence is the thing being acted upon — not the person doing the acting.
Vorgangspassiv Across Tenses
Werden carries the tense. The past participle stays fixed. This is the same logic as all auxiliary constructions in German.
| Tense | Construction | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | wird + Partizip II | Das Auto wird repariert. | The car is being repaired. |
| Simple past | wurde + Partizip II | Das Auto wurde repariert. | The car was repaired. |
| Perfect | ist + Partizip II + worden | Das Auto ist repariert worden. | The car has been repaired. |
| Pluperfect | war + Partizip II + worden | Das Auto war repariert worden. | The car had been repaired. |
| Future | wird + Partizip II + werden | Das Auto wird repariert werden. | The car will be repaired. |
worden vs. geworden
In the perfect and pluperfect, the passive uses worden — no ge- prefix. This is the only context where worden appears. If you see geworden, it's the perfect of werden meaning "to become" — not passive. One letter, completely different meaning.
In practice, the simple past (wurde) is the most common passive form in written German — newspaper articles, formal texts, official documents. The perfect passive (ist worden) appears in spoken and informal written contexts.
Zustandspassiv — The State Passive
Sein + past participle. The subject is in a state that resulted from a past action. The action itself is over — what you're describing is the current condition. This is why it looks like an adjective: grammatically, it behaves like one.
Das Auto ist repariert.
The car is fixed. (it's in a repaired state)
Der Brief ist geschrieben.
The letter is written. (done, complete)
Das Gebäude ist abgerissen.
The building is demolished. (it's gone)
Die Tür ist geschlossen.
The door is closed. (current state)
Der Laden ist geöffnet.
The shop is open. (in an opened state)
The Zustandspassiv only exists in present and simple past — it describes a state, and states don't have a "process" to put in perfect or future form in the same way.
| Tense | Construction | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | ist + Partizip II | Die Tür ist geschlossen. | The door is closed. |
| Simple past | war + Partizip II | Die Tür war geschlossen. | The door was closed. |
Side by Side: The Critical Difference
The same verb, the same participle, two different auxiliaries — two different meanings:
| Vorgangspassiv (process) | Zustandspassiv (state) |
|---|---|
| Die Tür wird geschlossen. | Die Tür ist geschlossen. |
| The door is being closed. | The door is closed. |
| Das Fenster wird geöffnet. | Das Fenster ist geöffnet. |
| The window is being opened. | The window is open. |
| Der Kuchen wird gegessen. | Der Kuchen ist gegessen. |
| The cake is being eaten. | The cake is gone. (eaten up) |
| Das Auto wurde repariert. | Das Auto war repariert. |
| The car was (being) repaired. | The car was (in a) fixed (state). |
The practical test: replace the auxiliary with "is currently happening" or "is currently the case." Whichever fits is the one to use.
Naming the Agent: von vs. durch
When you want to include who or what is performing the action, German uses two different prepositions depending on the nature of the agent.
Von + dative — for a person or a direct, deliberate cause:
Das Haus wurde von den Arbeitern gebaut.
The house was built by the workers.
Der Roman wurde von Kafka geschrieben.
The novel was written by Kafka.
Durch + accusative — for an impersonal force, instrument, or indirect cause:
Das Fenster wurde durch den Sturm zerstört.
The window was destroyed by the storm.
Die Nachricht wurde durch einen Boten überbracht.
The message was delivered by a messenger. (instrument, not personal agent)
The distinction is about intent and directness, not about whether the agent is human. A person acting deliberately gets von. A force, medium, or instrument gets durch.
The Impersonal Passive
German allows passive constructions without a subject at all — useful for describing activities without specifying who does them or who they happen to. The placeholder es can appear in first position or be dropped entirely if something else fills the slot.
Es wird getanzt.
There is dancing going on. / People are dancing.
Hier wird gearbeitet.
Work is being done here. / People work here.
Es wurde viel gelacht.
There was a lot of laughing. / People laughed a lot.
Auf der Party wurde bis morgens getanzt.
People danced until morning at the party.
This construction is particularly common with intransitive verbs — verbs that don't take a direct object — which can't form a normal passive because there's no object to promote to subject. The impersonal passive solves that.
Passive Alternatives Germans Actually Use
The full passive construction can be heavy, especially in spoken German. Native speakers often reach for lighter alternatives that carry the same meaning:
Man + active verb
The most common spoken alternative. Man (one / people / you) acts as an indefinite subject:
Man spricht hier Deutsch.
German is spoken here. (= Hier wird Deutsch gesprochen.)
Man hat das Gebäude abgerissen.
The building was demolished. (= Das Gebäude wurde abgerissen.)
Sich lassen + infinitive
Expresses that something can be done — passive with a sense of possibility. Covered in the lassen article.
Das lässt sich reparieren.
That can be repaired. (= Das kann repariert werden.)
Sein + zu + infinitive
Expresses that something must be or can be done — passive with obligation or possibility baked in:
Das ist zu beachten.
That is to be noted. / That must be noted.
Die Aufgabe ist bis Freitag zu erledigen.
The task is to be completed by Friday.
Common Traps
Trap 1 — Zustandspassiv looks like a predicate adjective
Die Tür ist geschlossen looks identical to a sentence where geschlossen is simply an adjective after sein. In most cases the meaning is the same either way, and native speakers don't agonize over the distinction. The grammatical label matters less than understanding what the sentence means.
Trap 2 — Worden vs. geworden in perfect passive
Er ist befördert worden. (passive — he was promoted)
Er ist Direktor geworden. (become — he became director)
No ge- prefix in the passive perfect. Always worden, never geworden, when used as passive auxiliary.
Trap 3 — Passive with dative objects
In German, only accusative objects can become the subject of a passive sentence. If the active verb takes only a dative object, the passive has no subject — you must use the impersonal construction:
Man hilft ihm. → Ihm wird geholfen.
He is being helped. (ihm stays dative, no subject promoted)
Man dankt ihr. → Ihr wird gedankt.
She is being thanked.
This surprises learners because English freely promotes indirect objects to passive subjects ("He was given a book"). German doesn't.
Trap 4 — Reflexive verbs can't form passive
Verbs that are inherently reflexive (sich freuen, sich erinnern, sich entscheiden) cannot be passivized. The reflexive pronoun blocks it. There's no passive of sich freuen — you have to rephrase.
Quick Recap
- German has two passives: Vorgangspassiv (process, using werden) and Zustandspassiv (resulting state, using sein).
- Vorgangspassiv: werden + Partizip II. Something is actively being done to the subject. Works across all tenses.
- Zustandspassiv: sein + Partizip II. The subject is in a state resulting from a completed action. Present and simple past only.
- The test: is something actively happening right now → werden. Is something currently the case as a result of a past action → sein.
- Perfect passive uses worden (no ge-), not geworden. One letter, two meanings.
- Agent: von for persons and deliberate causes. Durch for impersonal forces and instruments.
- Impersonal passive: no subject, describes activities. Common with intransitive verbs.
- Dative-only verbs form passive without a subject: Ihm wird geholfen. Reflexive verbs cannot be passivized.
- Spoken alternatives: man + active verb, sich lassen + infinitive, sein + zu + infinitive.