Der Vater holt den Sohn(direct object)ab. →
The father collects the son.
Der Sohn(subject)wird vom Vater abgeholt.
The son is collected by the father.As the subject of the passive sentence has to be in the nominative case,
the appropriate nominative form has to be used.Verbs taking the dative
A verb taking the dative needs a different structure in the passive. The
dative object moves to the beginning of the passive sentence and is
followed by the relevant form of werden. Here are a few examples:Der Frauwird von den Kindern geholfen.
The woman is being helped by the children.Mirwurde geraten, mehr Sport zu treiben.
I was advised to do more sport.Ihmwurde eine Taschenuhr geschenkt.
He was given a watch.Ihnenwurde zu ihrem Lottogewin gratuliert.
They were congratulated on their lottery win.Omitting the ‘doer’
Note that passive constructions do not always reveal who or what initi-
ated the action. This omission occurs in order to focus more on the action
itself rather than on the ‘doer’:Das Meeting wurde abgesagt.
The meeting was cancelled.Werden Sie schon bedient?
Are you being served?Usingmanas an alternative to the passive
It is possible to replace a passive construction by using manas part of an
active sentence:168 Unit 22: The passive voice