Breakdown of Der Verdächtige ist festgenommen worden.
sein
to be
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
der Verdächtige
the suspect
festnehmen
to arrest
Questions & Answers about Der Verdächtige ist festgenommen worden.
Why does this sentence use ist instead of hat to mean "has been"?
In English, we use "have" for the present perfect ("has been"). But in German, the passive voice is built with the verb werden. Because werden involves a change of state, its perfect tense always uses the helper verb sein (to be), which is why we use ist here.
Why is the last word worden and not geworden?
When werden is used as a helper verb to build the passive voice, it drops the ge- prefix and becomes just worden. You only use geworden when werden is the main verb meaning "to become", like in Er ist alt geworden (He has become old).
Is Verdächtige feminine because it ends in an -e?
Not here! The article Der shows it is a masculine noun. Verdächtige is an adjectival noun — an adjective (verdächtig, meaning suspicious) turned into a noun. Because of this, it follows standard adjective ending rules. After the masculine definite article der in the subject position (nominative case), the ending is just -e.
How is the word festgenommen put together?
It comes from the separable verb festnehmen (to arrest). When making the past participle for a separable verb, the -ge- gets sandwiched between the prefix (fest) and the irregular participle form of the base verb (nommen), creating festgenommen.
Learn Der Verdächtige ist festgenommen worden 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