The present perfect passive voice
When you want to report on a recently completed action where the result is the most important thing, you can use the passive voice in the present perfect tense (Perfekt). This is extremely common in news updates, such as a police briefing on an investigation.
To form the present perfect passive, use the present tense of sein as your helping verb, the past participle of the main verb, and the word worden.
| ich bin | wir sind |
| du bist | ihr seid |
| er/sie/es ist | sie/Sie sind |
Note: *worden is the past participle of werden when used as a helping verb in the passive voice. It drops the usual ge- prefix.*
Word order in main clauses
In a standard main clause, the conjugated form of sein takes the second position. The main verb's past participle and worden are pushed to the very end of the sentence, stacking up in that exact order.
| The crime scene was closed off immediately. | Der Tatort ist sofort gesperrt worden. |
| The burglary was solved yesterday. | Der Einbruch ist gestern aufgeklärt worden. |
| The suspect has been arrested. | Der Verdächtige ist festgenommen worden. |
Asking questions
To ask a yes/no question in the present perfect passive, simply move the conjugated form of sein to the very beginning of the sentence. The past participle and worden stay together at the end of the clause.
| Has the suspect already been interrogated? | Ist der Verdächtige schon verhört worden? |
| Has the evidence already been checked? | Ist der Beweis schon geprüft worden? |