Since the repetition of werdenis considered to be stylistically inele-
gant, the present tense form of the passive +anindication of timeis often
used instead:Future passive: Das Gebäude wird renoviert werden. →
Present tense: Das Gebäude wirdbaldrenoviert.
The building will soon be renovated.
Future passive: Die Pläne werden besprochen werden. →
Present tense: Die Pläne werdenin der nächsten Sitzung
besprochen.
The plans will be discussed during the next
meeting.Points to watch out for
Prepositions in passive constructions – von, durch
andmit
In order to indicate by whom or what an action is done, the preposition
vonhas to be used:Er wurde von einem Polizisten verhaftet.
He was arrested by a policeman.Two other prepositions often used in passive structures are durch, which
expresses by what means the action is carried out and mit, which identi-
fies what implement is being used:Das Haus wurde durch einen Brand zerstört.
The house was destroyed by fire.Er wurde mit einem Messer getötet.
He was killed with a knife.Note that the preposition durchrequires the accusative; vonandmitare
followed by the dative case.Using the correct case
When transforming a sentence into a passive construction, the direct object
(accusative) of the active sentence usually becomes the subject in the
passive version:Unit 22: The passive voice 167