Once you can say "this must be done," "the form can be submitted," or "nothing could be changed," you need the passive combined with a modal verb. German builds this with a tidy but unfamiliar three-verb stack: the modal is conjugated, and at the end of the clause sit the past participle + the infinitive werden. English says "must be done"; German says "must done become" — muss gemacht werden.
The basic structure
Take a normal werden-passive — Das wird gemacht ("it is being done") — and add a modal. The modal takes over the conjugated slot, and werden drops back to its infinitive form at the very end.
| Plain passive |
|
|---|---|
| Das wird gemacht. | Das muss gemacht werden. |
| Der Antrag wird eingereicht. | Der Antrag kann online eingereicht werden. |
| Die Tür wird geöffnet. | Die Tür darf nicht geöffnet werden. |
So the formula is: modal (conjugated) ... Partizip II + werden (infinitive). The participle comes first, then werden, in that fixed order, both at the clause end.
Das muss heute noch gemacht werden.
This still has to be done today. — modal 'muss' conjugated, 'gemacht werden' at the end.
Der Antrag kann auch online eingereicht werden.
The application can also be submitted online. (formal/official)
Diese Fenster dürfen nicht geöffnet werden.
These windows may not be opened. — a sign you'd see on a train.
Why English speakers find this hard
English keeps the modal and the lexical verb close together and inserts the dummy auxiliary be: "must be done," "can be submitted." German instead keeps its verbal pieces apart, clamping them around the sentence — the modal up front in second position, and gemacht werden shipped to the very end. This is the Satzklammer (sentence bracket): the conjugated verb opens the bracket, the rest of the verb cluster closes it.
Solche Fehler können leider nicht immer vermieden werden.
Such mistakes unfortunately cannot always be avoided. — note how far apart 'können' and 'vermieden werden' sit.
Crucially, the verb werden here is the passive auxiliary, not the future or the "become" verb. Its only job is to mark the passive. That is why it cannot disappear — without it, you simply have no passive at all (see the Common Mistakes below).
The past tense
To put the whole thing in the past, you usually conjugate the modal in the Präteritum and leave gemacht werden untouched. This is by far the most common way to express past modal passives.
Das musste sofort gemacht werden.
That had to be done immediately. — modal in the past (musste), 'gemacht werden' unchanged.
Der Schaden konnte leider nicht mehr repariert werden.
The damage unfortunately could no longer be repaired.
Damals durfte hier nicht geraucht werden.
Back then smoking was not allowed here. (impersonal modal passive)
The full perfect (hat gemacht werden müssen) also exists, but it is heavy and rare in speech; in everyday German the Präteritum modal (musste ... werden) covers the past perfectly well.
In a subordinate clause
When the clause is subordinate (introduced by dass, weil, ob, etc.), the conjugated modal moves to the very end, landing after the participle + werden. The order becomes: ... participle + werden + modal.
Ich weiß, dass das bis morgen gemacht werden muss.
I know that this has to be done by tomorrow. — finite modal 'muss' goes last.
Es ärgert mich, dass solche Anträge nicht online eingereicht werden können.
It annoys me that such applications cannot be submitted online. (formal)
Sie erklärte, warum der Termin nicht verschoben werden konnte.
She explained why the appointment could not be postponed. (past, subordinate)
Compare the main clause and the subordinate clause side by side — only the position of the finite modal changes:
| Clause type | Verb order at the end | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Main clause | modal ... participle + werden | Das muss gemacht werden. |
| Subordinate clause | ... participle + werden + modal | ..., dass das gemacht werden muss. |
sein + participle is a different meaning
Watch out for the difference between gemacht werden and gemacht sein. Replacing werden with sein does not "fix" anything — it changes the meaning entirely, because sein + participle is the state passive (Zustandspassiv).
Das muss gemacht werden.
That must be done. — the action still needs to happen.
Bis 18 Uhr muss alles erledigt sein.
By 6 p.m. everything has to be done (= in a finished state). — modal + state passive, about the required end condition.
Both are correct German, but the first is about performing the action and the second is about the resulting state being in place by a deadline. Choose deliberately.
Common Mistakes
❌ Das muss heute gemacht.
Incorrect — the passive auxiliary 'werden' is missing; the clause has no passive at all.
✅ Das muss heute gemacht werden.
This must be done today. — 'gemacht werden' must stay together at the end.
❌ Das muss heute gemacht sein.
Wrong meaning if you mean the action must be performed — 'gemacht sein' describes a finished STATE, not the doing.
✅ Das muss heute gemacht werden.
This must be done today. — use 'werden' for the action that still needs doing.
❌ Das muss werden gemacht.
Incorrect order — the participle comes first, then 'werden'.
✅ Das muss gemacht werden.
This must be done. — always participle + werden.
❌ Ich weiß, dass das gemacht muss werden.
Incorrect subordinate order — the finite modal must go to the very end.
✅ Ich weiß, dass das gemacht werden muss.
I know that this has to be done. — finite modal last: participle + werden + modal.
❌ Der Antrag kann online eingereicht geworden.
Incorrect — 'werden' here is the infinitive auxiliary, not the participle 'geworden'.
✅ Der Antrag kann online eingereicht werden.
The application can be submitted online.
Key Takeaways
- Modal passive = conjugated modal + ... + participle + werden (infinitive) at the clause end.
- The order of the final two verbs is fixed: participle, then werden.
- Past tense: put the modal in the Präteritum (musste ... werden); the perfect form exists but is rare.
- In a subordinate clause the finite modal jumps to the very end: ... gemacht werden muss.
- Never drop werden (you lose the passive) and never swap in sein (you change it to a state).
Now practice German
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- The Werden-Passive (Vorgangspassiv)B1 — How to form and use the German process passive with werden plus the past participle, including the tricky Perfekt form ist gebaut worden.
- Modal Verbs: OverviewA2 — The six German modal verbs, their shared word order, and the irregular present tense that makes ich and er identical.
- The Satzklammer (Sentence Bracket)A2 — How German wraps a clause in two verbal poles, pushing participles, infinitives, and prefixes to the very end.
- Verb Clusters and the Double InfinitiveC1 — When several verbs pile up at the end of a clause, German has a fixed cluster order — and the double infinitive is the one construction that breaks verb-final, forcing the finite auxiliary in front of the cluster instead of behind it.
- The Sein-Passive (Zustandspassiv / Result State)B2 — How German uses sein + past participle to describe the resulting state of an action, and how it differs from the werden-passive.