Breakdown of Die Ware wird automatisch sortiert.
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
automatisch
automatically
die Ware
the goods
sortieren
to sort
Questions & Answers about Die Ware wird automatisch sortiert.
English "goods" is plural. Why does this sentence use the singular verb wird?
In German, die Ware (the merchandise or goods) is a singular feminine noun. That's why it takes the singular helping verb wird. If you wanted to use the plural form to refer to multiple types of goods, it would be die Waren werden.
How does this sentence show that an action is happening to the goods, rather than the goods doing it?
By using the passive voice. In the present tense, this is built using a conjugated form of werden (here, wird) in the second position, plus the past participle of the main verb (sortiert) pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why is the past participle sortiert instead of gesortiert?
Regular past participles in German usually get a ge- prefix. However, verbs that end in -ieren, like sortieren (to sort) or studieren (to study), are an exception. They do not take a ge- prefix and simply end in -t.
Why use the passive voice here instead of an active sentence?
The passive voice is used when the action itself is the main focus, and who or what is doing it is either obvious, unknown, or unimportant. In this sentence, the important information is the automatic sorting, not the specific machine or system doing the work.
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