The Passiv
As in English, you use the Passiv (passive voice) in German if you don’t know who performed an action or if knowing who performed it is irrelevant
Die Firma wurde schon im Jahr 1900 gegründet
The company was already founded in 1900
Der Blinde wird gefrührt
The blind (man) is being guided
The Passiv is often used in general or universal statements and can be formed in every tense
In Deutschland werden viele Autos produziert
In Germany, they produce a lot of cars (lit. a lot of cars are produced)
How to form the Passiv
The Passiv is formed with a form of werden and the past participle
Der Blinde wird geführt
The blind (man) is being guided
The past participle is always at the end of the sentence
Die Brücke wurde nach dem Krieg gebaut
The bridge wsa built after the war
By whom is it done...?
If you want to mention the person or thing by whom an action is performed (agent), you can use von plus dative
Dier Blinde wird von einem Blindenhund geführt
The blind(man) is guided by a guide dog
Die Nationalhymne wurde von Hayden komponiert, nicht von Mozart
The National anthem was composed by Haydn, not by Mozart
Questions in the Passiv
Questions in the Passiv work the same way as other questions in German. The conjugated verb form of werden comes first followed by the subject. The past participle is at very end of the question
Wann wurde die deutsche Nationalhymne komponiert
When was the German national anthem composed?
Wurde die Nationalhymne von Haydn komponiert?
Was the national anthem was composed by Haydn?