In a demanding household, you often need to express that chores must be done. While you can use the active voice with a modal verb like müssen, German offers concise passive alternatives to focus purely on the task at hand.
| One must sweep the floor every day. | Man muss den Boden jeden Tag fegen. |
Necessity with "gehören" + Past Participle
To express that something strongly needs to be done, you can use the verb gehören combined with a past participle. This structure is very common in everyday German when talking about chores and maintenance.
Conjugate gehören to match the subject (the thing that needs cleaning or fixing), and place the past participle of the main verb at the very end of the sentence.
| The carpet needs to be vacuumed immediately. | Der Teppich gehört sofort gestaubsaugt. |
| The garden is huge and the lawn needs to be mowed. | Der Garten ist riesig und der Rasen gehört gemäht. |
If the subject is plural, remember to use the plural form gehören.
| The furniture needs to be dusted regularly. | Die Möbel gehören regelmäßig abgestaubt. |
Necessity with "sein" + "zu" + Infinitive
Another passive alternative to express necessity uses the verb sein (to be) followed by zu and the infinitive of the main verb.
This form translates roughly to "is to be [done]." It sounds a bit more formal and strict, making it perfect for a rigid set of household rules or instructions. Conjugate sein for the subject, and place zu + infinitive at the end of the clause.
| The lawn is to be mowed this afternoon. | Der Rasen ist heute Nachmittag zu mähen. |
| After that, the kitchen is to be wiped. | Danach ist die Küche zu wischen. |