Der Tisch wurde durch die Sekretärin gebucht.
The table was booked by the secretary (i.e. acting for the boss).Die Stadt wurde durch die alliierten Truppen zurückerobert.
The town was retaken by the allied troops.40.4 Alternative constructions
Note the following alternative constructions which carry the same kind of focus as the
passive with werden:(a) The impersonal pronoun man (see 31.4). This is widely used in everyday spoken
and written German:Man hat die Frage gestellt.
People asked the question/Someone asked the question/The question
was asked.(b) lassen + sich + verb taking an accusative object. Literally, this construction means
‘something allows itself to be done’. Its use suggests a fairly formal, usually written style
(see 58 ).Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten.
This question can easily be answered/This question is easy to answer. See also 35.6b (p. 78).
(c) An adjective ending in -bar or -lich derived from a verb (see 55.1a):Das ist leicht verständlich.
That is easy to understand/That is easily understood.Es ist nicht machbar.
It is not do-able/It cannot be done.Note, however, that this process of word formation is highly irregular and
unpredictable (see 52.3).(d) Modal verbs ( 35 ) in combination with the passive.It is worth noting how often modal verbs occur in passive and related constructions:Das muss gemacht werden.
That must be done.Das kann/sollte man machen.
It can/ought to be done.See also 5.4 (p. 9).
41 Imperatives
See also 86.1 (pp. 309–11), 99.1c (p. 359).
41.1 The imperative forms of the verb are used to give direct commands or instructions to
someone. The imperative has a formal and a familiar form corresponding to whether
41
Imperatives