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### The simple past passive voice

To talk about actions that happened in the past without focusing on who did them, you can use the passive voice in the simple past (*Präteritum*). This is especially common when recounting historical events, like when cities were founded or things were invented.

To form the simple past passive, use the simple past form of **werden**, which is **wurde**, along with the past participle of the main verb.

| | |
|---|---|
| ich **wurde** | wir **wurden** |
| du **wurdest** | ihr **wurdet** |
| er/sie/es **wurde** | sie/Sie **wurden** |

### Word order in main clauses

Just like in the present tense passive, the conjugated auxiliary verb (**wurde**) takes the second position in a standard main clause. The past participle goes to the very end of the sentence.

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### Asking questions

To form a yes/no question, move **wurde** to the very beginning of the sentence.

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For questions with a question word (like *wann* or *wo*), start with the question word, followed immediately by **wurde**.

{{item:873650}}

### Word order in subordinate clauses

When you use a subordinating conjunction like **obwohl** (although) or **dass** (that), the conjugated verb is pushed to the very end of the clause. In a past passive sentence, this means **wurde** goes at the end, immediately *after* the past participle.

{{item:873651}}

The simple past passive voice (wurde)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
the telephone	das Telefon
to invent	erfinden
The telephone was invented by a teacher.	Das Telefon wurde von einem Lehrer erfunden.
Was the telephone invented in Germany?	Wurde das Telefon in Deutschland erfunden?
the lightbulb	die Glühbirne
When was the lightbulb invented?	Wann wurde die Glühbirne erfunden?
Although the lightbulb was invented, it is dark here.	Obwohl die Glühbirne erfunden wurde, ist es hier dunkel.
the republic	die Republik
to found	gründen
The republic was founded after the war.	Die Republik wurde nach dem Krieg gegründet.
The city was founded by the river.	Die Stadt wurde am Fluss gegründet.
The castle was built in the seventeenth century.	Das Schloss wurde im siebzehnten Jahrhundert gebaut.
The machine was developed by an engineer.	Die Maschine wurde von einem Ingenieur entwickelt.
to open (an account, business, event)	eröffnen
The museum was opened in the castle.	Das Museum wurde im Schloss eröffnet.
the wall (exterior, brick or stone)	die Mauer
The wall was built, although nobody wanted it.	Die Mauer wurde gebaut, obwohl niemand sie wollte.
The wall was finally destroyed.	Die Mauer wurde schließlich zerstört.
the democracy	die Demokratie
to introduce	einführen
Democracy was introduced in the republic.	In der Republik wurde die Demokratie eingeführt.
Was democracy introduced without war?	Wurde die Demokratie ohne Krieg eingeführt?
the railway	die Eisenbahn
The railway was opened in the nineteenth century.	Im neunzehnten Jahrhundert wurde die Eisenbahn eröffnet.
The railway was invented earlier.	Die Eisenbahn wurde früher erfunden.

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