Breakdown of Die Ausstellung, die wir besuchen, wurde von ihm entworfen.
er
he
wir
we
besuchen
to visit
von
from, of / by (agent in passive clauses)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
die Ausstellung
the exhibition
entwerfen
to design
Questions & Answers about Die Ausstellung, die wir besuchen, wurde von ihm entworfen.
Why does the sentence use von ihm to mean "by him" instead of durch ihn?
In German passive sentences, von (+ dative) is used for the agent—the person, animal, or institution that actively performs the action. Because a person is actively doing the designing here, we use von ihm. You would use durch (+ accusative) if the "by" phrase referred to a means, instrument, or indirect cause (for example, "destroyed by a storm").
Why does wurde come immediately after the comma?
This is because of the "verb second" rule in German main clauses. The entire phrase Die Ausstellung, die wir besuchen (The exhibition that we are visiting) acts as a single block: the subject. It takes up position 1 in the main clause. Therefore, the conjugated verb wurde must take position 2, placing it right after the relative clause finishes.
In the relative clause die wir besuchen, is die the subject or the object?
It is the direct object (in the accusative case). The subject of the relative clause is wir (we). Because Ausstellung is feminine, its accusative relative pronoun is die, which happens to look exactly like the nominative (subject) form.
How is the past passive formed in this sentence?
To form the simple past (Präteritum) in the passive voice, you use the past tense of the helping verb werden, which is wurde, and pair it with the past participle of the main verb. The conjugated wurde goes in the second position of the main clause, and the past participle entworfen (from the infinitive entwerfen) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Learn Die Ausstellung, die wir besuchen, wurde von ihm entworfen and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free