Word
Das Gedicht wird von dem Autor übersetzt.
Meaning
The poem is translated by the author.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Das Gedicht wird von dem Autor übersetzt.
von
from, of / by (agent in passive clauses)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Autor
the author
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
Questions & Answers about Das Gedicht wird von dem Autor übersetzt.
Why use von here instead of durch for "by"?
In German passive sentences, we use von (followed by the dative case) for the active agent. This is usually a person, animal, or organization actively doing the action. Since the author (der Autor) is a person translating the poem, von is the right choice. We generally use durch (with the accusative) for a tool, means, or indirect cause.
Could I say vom Autor instead of von dem Autor?
Yes, absolutely! The preposition von and the dative article dem often merge into the contraction vom in everyday German. Both von dem Autor and vom Autor are perfectly correct here.
Why does the sentence use wird when the English translation says "is"?
German builds the standard passive voice using the auxiliary verb werden (here conjugated as wird) plus the past participle. This describes the ongoing action of the poem being translated. If you used ist, it would describe a finished state, meaning the translation process was already fully completed.
Why doesn't the past participle übersetzt have a ge- in front of it?