Das Schloss wurde im siebzehnten Jahrhundert gebaut.
The castle was built in the seventeenth century.
Breakdown of Das Schloss wurde im siebzehnten Jahrhundert gebaut.
bauen
to build
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
das Jahrhundert
the century
siebzehnte
seventeenth
das Schloss
the castle
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
Questions & Answers about Das Schloss wurde im siebzehnten Jahrhundert gebaut.
Why do we use wurde and gebaut to mean "was built"?
This sentence uses the simple past passive voice. To express that an action was done to the subject in the past, German uses the simple past form of werden (which is wurde for a singular subject like das Schloss) and places the past participle of the main verb (gebaut) at the very end of the sentence.
Why is it im instead of just in?
im is a contraction of the preposition in and the definite article dem. When expressing time in German, like centuries, months, or seasons, the preposition in requires the dative case. Because Jahrhundert (century) is a neuter noun, the article becomes dem, contracting into im.
Why does the word for "seventeenth" (siebzehnten) end in -en?
In German, ordinal numbers like "seventeenth" act just like regular adjectives and must follow adjective declension rules. Since it comes right after im (which hides the dative definite article dem), the adjective takes the standard dative ending -en.
Could I use the spoken past (Perfekt) and say "ist ... gebaut worden" instead?
Grammatically, yes. However, for historical facts and completed events from the distant past (like building a castle), the simple past passive (wurde ... gebaut) is strongly preferred and sounds much more natural to native speakers, even in casual conversation.
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