Breakdown of Für die Steckdose muss ein Loch gebohrt werden.
ein
a, an (eine)
müssen
to have to, must
für
for
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
das Loch
the hole
bohren
to drill
die Steckdose
the power outlet
Questions & Answers about Für die Steckdose muss ein Loch gebohrt werden.
How is the passive voice built with the modal verb in this sentence?
To say something "must be done", you combine three verb parts: the conjugated modal verb (muss), the past participle of the action verb (gebohrt), and the infinitive werden. In a normal passive sentence, you conjugate werden, but because the modal verb muss is already conjugated, werden stays in its infinitive form.
Why are gebohrt and werden placed together at the very end of the sentence?
In German main clauses, a conjugated modal verb like muss always takes the second position and pushes all other verb parts to the very end. For the passive voice, those remaining parts are the past participle (gebohrt) and the helper verb (werden), and they stack up at the end in exactly that order.
Since the sentence starts with Für die Steckdose, what is the subject that muss agrees with?
The subject is actually ein Loch (a hole). Because the sentence starts with the prepositional phrase Für die Steckdose, the verb muss stays in the strict second position, which pushes the subject ein Loch into the third position right after the verb.
Why does the article stay die in für die Steckdose?
The preposition für is a strict accusative preposition, meaning the noun that follows it must take the accusative case. Since Steckdose is a feminine noun, its article is die in the nominative case and remains die in the accusative case.
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