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Das Notizbuch soll jeden Tag benutzt werden.

Das Notizbuch soll jeden Tag benutzt werden.
The notebook should be used every day.

Breakdown of Das Notizbuch soll jeden Tag benutzt werden.

sollen
should
jeden Tag
every day
das Notizbuch
the notebook
benutzt werden
to be used
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Questions & Answers about Das Notizbuch soll jeden Tag benutzt werden.

What exactly does soll express here? Is it like “must”?

Soll shows that there is an obligation or expectation, but usually weaker or more “external” than muss.

  • Das Notizbuch soll jeden Tag benutzt werden.
    = The notebook is supposed to be used every day / is meant to be used every day.

Nuance compared to muss:

  • muss = strong necessity, no real choice

    • Das Notizbuch muss jeden Tag benutzt werden.
      → It has to be used every day; very strict requirement.

  • soll = obligation, rule, or instruction, often coming from someone else or from a plan

    • A teacher, manager, or instruction manual might say this.

In everyday speech, soll can also sound like a recommendation or guideline, while muss is more like a hard rule.

Why is the sentence in the passive (benutzt werden) instead of active?

The passive focuses on the notebook and what should happen to it, not on who uses it.

  • Passive:

    • Das Notizbuch soll jeden Tag benutzt werden.
      → Emphasis: the notebook and the rule about it. The user is unknown or unimportant.

  • Active versions:

    • Du sollst das Notizbuch jeden Tag benutzen. (You are supposed to use the notebook every day.)
    • Die Schüler sollen das Notizbuch jeden Tag benutzen. (The students are supposed to use it every day.)

Choose passive when:

  • The agent (who does it) is irrelevant, unknown, or obvious from context.
  • You want a neutral, “rule-like” statement (typical in instructions, rules, announcements).
How is the passive form benutzt werden built here?

It’s the passive infinitive:

  1. Take the verb in Partizip II (past participle):
    • benutzen → benutzt
  2. Add werden (infinitive) to build the passive:
    • benutzt werden = “to be used”

With sollen, you need this infinitive construction at the end:

  • Das Notizbuch soll jeden Tag benutzt werden.
    • soll = conjugated (finite) modal verb in position 2
    • benutzt werden = two-part infinitive at the end

Pattern:
Subjekt + Modalverb (konjugiert) + … + Partizip II + werden

Example:

  • Das Auto soll morgen repariert werden.
    (The car is supposed to be repaired tomorrow.)
Why is it Das Notizbuch and not something like Dem Notizbuch or Den Notizbuch? Which case is this?

Das Notizbuch is in the nominative case because it’s the subject of the sentence.

In the passive, the thing that receives the action usually becomes the grammatical subject:

  • Active (imagined):
    • Jemand benutzt das Notizbuch jeden Tag.
      • Subject: Jemand (someone)
      • Direct object (accusative): das Notizbuch
  • Passive:
    • Das Notizbuch soll jeden Tag benutzt werden.
      • Subject (nominative): Das Notizbuch

Notizbuch is neuter: das Notizbuch (Nom./Akk. singular).
So das is correct in nominative here, not dem (dative) or den (masculine acc./pl.).

Why is it jeden Tag and not jeder Tag or jedem Tag?

Because Tag is masculine, and jeden is the accusative masculine form of jeder.

  • Tag = masculine noun (der Tag).
  • In the phrase jeden Tag, Tag is an accusative time expression (“every day” → for how often/when something happens).

Declension of jeder (singular):

  • Masculine:
    • Nominative: jeder Tag (rare; you’d usually say jeder Tag only in certain structures)
    • Accusative: jeden Tag
    • Dative: jedem Tag
  • Feminine:
    • Nominative/Accusative: jede Nacht
  • Neuter:
    • Nominative/Accusative: jedes Jahr

Since jeden Tag is functioning like a time adverbial (“every day”), German uses the accusative form.

Could I move jeden Tag to another position in the sentence?

Yes, but not anywhere. Natural options:

  1. Das Notizbuch soll jeden Tag benutzt werden.
    → neutral, very common.
  2. Jeden Tag soll das Notizbuch benutzt werden.
    → emphasizes “every day” a bit more.
  3. Das Notizbuch soll benutzt werden – jeden Tag.
    → spoken style, with a pause or afterthought.

What you cannot do is put jeden Tag after werden inside the verb cluster:

  • ❌ Das Notizbuch soll benutzt werden jeden Tag. (ungrammatical in standard German word order)

In main clauses, the finite verb (soll) must be in position 2, and the rest (including verb parts like benutzt werden) must go to the end in a specific block. Adverbials like jeden Tag normally come before the final verb group.

How would this sentence look in a subordinate clause, for example after dass?

The word order changes at the end; all the verbs go to the final position:

  • Main clause:
    • Das Notizbuch soll jeden Tag benutzt werden.
  • Subordinate clause with dass:
    • …, dass das Notizbuch jeden Tag benutzt werden soll.

Pattern in a subordinate clause:
… dass + Subjekt + (Adverbial) + Partizip II + werden + Modalverb (konjugiert)

So you get:
… dass das Notizbuch jeden Tag benutzt werden soll.

Could I say Das Notizbuch muss jeden Tag benutzt werden instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, it’s grammatically correct, but muss is stronger than soll.

  • Das Notizbuch soll jeden Tag benutzt werden.
    → It is supposed to be used every day; rule, instruction, expectation.
  • Das Notizbuch muss jeden Tag benutzt werden.
    → It must be used every day; very strong necessity, little or no choice.

If you want a slightly softer, more polite-sounding or recommendation-like tone, soll is better. For a strict requirement (e.g., safety regulations), muss fits better.

How would I say this in a more direct active sentence like “You should use the notebook every day”?

You’d make “you” the subject and use the active form of the verb:

  • Du sollst das Notizbuch jeden Tag benutzen.
    → informal singular “you” (to one person)
  • Ihr sollt das Notizbuch jeden Tag benutzen.
    → informal plural “you” (to a group)
  • Sie sollen das Notizbuch jeden Tag benutzen.
    → formal “you” (singular or plural)

These are all active:
Subjekt (du/ihr/Sie) + soll(en/st) + das Notizbuch + jeden Tag + benutzen

Can I use verwendet instead of benutzt? Is there a difference?

Yes, verwendet is possible:

  • Das Notizbuch soll jeden Tag verwendet werden.

Both benutzen and verwenden mean “to use.” The difference is small:

  • benutzen → very common, everyday “use”
  • verwenden → sometimes sounds a bit more formal or technical, like “employ/use something for a purpose”

In this context (a notebook), both work. benutzen is the more typical everyday choice.

How would I negate this? For example: “The notebook is not supposed to be used every day”?

You usually put nicht before jeden Tag (or before the phrase you want to negate):

  • Das Notizbuch soll nicht jeden Tag benutzt werden.
    → It’s not supposed to be used every day (maybe only sometimes).

If you want to say it should never be used:

  • Das Notizbuch soll nicht benutzt werden.
    → It is not supposed to be used (at all).

So:

  • nicht jeden Tag → negates the frequency (“not every day”)
  • nicht benutzt werden → negates the whole action (“not be used at all”)
Is there a softer, more polite version, like “should” instead of a firm rule?

You can use the Konjunktiv II of sollen – sollte – to make it sound more like a suggestion or recommendation:

  • Das Notizbuch sollte jeden Tag benutzt werden.
    → The notebook should be used every day (it would be good/ideal if this happened).

Nuance:

  • soll = current rule, instruction, expectation (more binding)
  • sollte = recommendation, suggestion, “it would be advisable”

Both are grammatically fine; choose based on how strong you want the obligation to sound.