Word
Die Ware wird morgen geliefert.
Meaning
The goods are delivered tomorrow.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Die Ware wird morgen geliefert.
morgen
tomorrow
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
die Ware
the goods
Questions & Answers about Die Ware wird morgen geliefert.
Why does the German sentence use wird (singular) when the English translation says goods are (plural)?
In German, die Ware is a singular noun representing a collective category (similar to merchandise). In English, it is usually translated as the plural the goods. Because die Ware is singular in this sentence, the helping verb werden must take the singular form wird.
How is the passive voice built in this sentence?
This sentence uses the process passive (Vorgangspassiv), which focuses on an action happening to the subject. It is built by placing the conjugated helping verb werden (here as wird) in the second position, and sending the past participle of the main verb (geliefert) to the very end of the sentence.
Could I say ist geliefert instead of wird geliefert?
Not if you mean the delivery action is going to happen tomorrow. Wird geliefert describes an action or process taking place. If you say ist geliefert, you are describing a state (Zustandspassiv), which means the delivery is already completely finished and the item is sitting on your doorstep.
If this happens morgen (tomorrow), why is the verb in the present tense?
Just like in English, German frequently uses the present tense to talk about a planned future event. As long as there is a specific time word, like morgen, to make the timeframe clear, you do not need to use the longer and more complex future passive.