Breakdown of Das Gedicht wird vom Lehrer übersetzt.
der Lehrer
the teacher
vom
from the (von + dem) / of the (belonging to) / by the (agent in a passive clause)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
Questions & Answers about Das Gedicht wird vom Lehrer übersetzt.
Why do we use vom here instead of durch to mean "by"?
In German passive sentences, we use von for the active agent doing the action, which is usually a person or living thing. Here, the teacher is actively translating the poem. We only use durch when talking about a means, instrument, or cause, such as sending the poem "through the mail" (durch die Post).
What exactly is vom short for in this sentence?
It is a contraction of von dem. The preposition von always forces the noun that follows it into the dative case. Because Lehrer is a masculine noun (der Lehrer), its dative article is dem.
Why is the past participle übersetzt and not geübersetzt?
The verb übersetzen (to translate) has an inseparable prefix (über-). Verbs with inseparable prefixes do not get the normal ge- added to the front when they are turned into a past participle.
The English translation says "is being translated". Why does German use wird instead of ist?
German builds the standard "process passive" (focusing on an action that is currently happening) using the helping verb werden (here conjugated as wird). If you said Das Gedicht ist übersetzt, it would mean the translation process is already completely finished and you are just describing its current state.