Breakdown of Der Tresor wäre mit dieser Kombination geknackt worden.
sein
to be
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
mit
with
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
der Tresor
the safe
die Kombination
the combination
knacken
to crack
Questions & Answers about Der Tresor wäre mit dieser Kombination geknackt worden.
Why do we use wäre here instead of hätte for "would have"?
Passive sentences always use werden as their core helper verb. When forming perfect tenses of werden, German requires the auxiliary verb sein, not haben. So, to say "would have been cracked" in the passive voice, we put sein into its Konjunktiv II form, which gives us wäre.
Why does the sentence end with worden instead of geworden?
When you build the passive voice in perfect tenses, German drops the ge- prefix from geworden. Since this sentence uses the passive Konjunktiv II past, we use the shortened form worden. If this were an active sentence meaning "The safe would have become old", you would use the full word geworden.
What is the rule for the word order of geknackt worden?
In perfect tenses of the passive voice, the past participle of your main verb (geknackt) goes to the very end of the clause, immediately followed by the passive helper worden. It is always the main action's participle first, and then worden.
Is the verb knacken only used for safes?
You can use knacken quite broadly! Just like the English word "crack", it applies to physical things like nuts (Nüsse knacken) or knuckles, but also abstract challenges like cracking a password, a code, or a tough puzzle (ein Rätsel knacken).
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