Breakdown of Wo werden die Möbel hergestellt?
wo
where
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
die Möbel
the furniture (plural only)
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
herstellen
to manufacture
Questions & Answers about Wo werden die Möbel hergestellt?
Why does the German sentence use the plural werden when the English translation uses the singular "is"?
In English, "furniture" is an uncountable singular noun. In German, it is typically treated as a plural noun: die Möbel (the pieces of furniture). Because the subject is plural, the auxiliary verb must be the plural form werden.
How is the passive voice ordered in this question?
The question word Wo takes the first spot, followed immediately by the conjugated auxiliary verb werden. Just like in the perfect tense, the past participle hergestellt is pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why is the -ge- in the middle of the word hergestellt?
The infinitive is herstellen (to manufacture/produce), which is a separable verb. When forming the past participle of a separable verb, the -ge- is always inserted between the separable prefix (her-) and the verb stem (-stellt).
Why use the passive voice here instead of an active sentence like "Where do they make the furniture?"
The passive voice is perfect for when the "doer" of an action is unknown or unimportant. Here, we only care about what is being made (die Möbel) and where the action happens (Wo), not the specific people working in the factory.
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