Breakdown of Der Schaden wurde durch den Sturm verursacht.
der Sturm
the storm
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
durch
through
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
der Schaden
the damage
verursachen
to cause
Questions & Answers about Der Schaden wurde durch den Sturm verursacht.
Why does this sentence use durch instead of von to say "by the storm"?
In passive sentences, we use durch when the action is caused by a non-human force, a process, or a tool (like a storm). We use von when the action is deliberately done by an active agent, usually a person or an animal. Because a storm is a natural force causing the damage, durch is the most natural choice here.
Why is it durch den Sturm and not durch dem Sturm?
The preposition durch always requires the accusative case. Since Sturm is a masculine noun (der Sturm), it changes to den Sturm in the accusative. If the sentence had used von, which requires the dative case, it would have been von dem or vom Sturm.
Why use wurde instead of war? Doesn't war also mean "was"?
While war means "was," German uses the helping verb werden (here in its simple past form, wurde) to build the standard passive voice. This describes an event or action actually taking place. Using war would describe a finished state (the damage was already there) rather than the action of the storm causing it.
Why doesn't the past participle verursacht start with ge-?
The verb is verursachen (to cause). Because it starts with the inseparable prefix ver-, it does not get the typical ge- prefix in its past participle form. It simply keeps its prefix and takes the regular -t ending, making it verursacht.
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