B2 · The passive
Avoiding the passive
man, sich lassen, and the sein-passive
Three constructions German reaches for instead — and one of them is what a spoken sentence usually uses.
At a glance
- Remember
- man for speech, sich lassen for possibility, sein for a state.
- Form
- ich lasse mich überzeugenI can be convinced
- Signal words
- man
- lässt sich
- ist zu
- ist geschlossen
- sich verkaufen
- Trap
- Wrong:Das lässt sich nicht geändert.Right:Das lässt sich nicht ändern.
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself3 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in German. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) person ending auxiliary verb
| I can be convinced | ich lasse mich überzeugen |
| you can be convinced (informal) | du lässt dich überzeugen |
| he, she, it can be convinced | er, sie, es lässt sich überzeugen |
| we can be convinced | wir lassen uns überzeugen |
| you can be convinced (plural) | ihr lasst euch überzeugen |
| they, you (formal) can be convinced | sie, Sie lassen sich überzeugen |
| man | Man kann das online machen. |
| sich lassen | Das lässt sich reparieren. |
| state passive | Der Laden ist geschlossen. |
| sein zu | Das ist noch zu klären. |
| reflexive | Das Buch verkauft sich gut. |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
man plus an active verb is the everyday alternative to a passive.
Man muss vorher anrufen.You have to call in advance.
sich lassen plus an infinitive says that something can be done.
Das Fenster lässt sich nicht öffnen.The window cannot be opened.
sein plus a participle is a state, not a process.
Die Tür ist abgeschlossen.The door is locked.
sein plus zu plus an infinitive says something must or can be done.
Der Antrag ist bis Freitag einzureichen.The application must be submitted by Friday.
Example sentences
Man sollte das vorher besprechen.That should be discussed beforehand.
Der Fehler lässt sich leicht beheben.The fault can easily be fixed.
Das Geschäft ist sonntags geschlossen.The shop is closed on Sundays.
Diese Frage ist noch zu klären.This question still has to be resolved.
So etwas macht man nicht.One does not do that sort of thing.
8 more example sentences
Man kann hier gut essen.The food here is good.
Das lässt sich nicht ändern.That cannot be changed.
Die Formulare sind vollständig ausgefüllt.The forms are completely filled in.
Hier ist nichts mehr zu machen.There is nothing more to be done here.
Man weiß nie.You never know.
Der Termin lässt sich verschieben.The appointment can be moved.
Das Problem ist gelöst.The problem is solved.
So etwas sagt man nicht.You do not say things like that.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The meaning is passive — "cannot be changed" — so the participle from the werden passive slips in. But lassen behaves like a modal verb and takes a bare infinitive: Das lässt sich machen, Das lässt sich nicht ändern. The passive meaning comes from sich lassen itself; the verb after it never changes its form.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
German has a passive and often does not use it. The commonest alternative is man: Man kann das online machen rather than das kann online gemacht werden. It says the same thing, is shorter, and is what a person says out loud.
Sich lassen plus an infinitive expresses possibility: Das lässt sich reparieren — that can be repaired. It is very common in technical and everyday German and has no direct English equivalent, which makes it worth learning as a pattern rather than as a translation.
And sein plus a participle is the state passive, which is not an alternative to the process passive but a different statement: Der Laden ist geschlossendescribes how things areder Laden wird geschlossendescribes something happening Both are needed and they are not interchangeable.
A closer look
Why man has no good English translation
English offers "one", which is formal to the point of sounding affected, and "you", which sounds as if the listener is being addressed. German man is neither — it is completely neutral, as common in a text message as in a statute, and it carries no register at all.
The consequence is that a lot of ordinary German has no natural word-for-word English, and translators reach for the passive instead. Coming the other way, an English speaker writing German reaches for the passive when a German would have written man — which is why learners' German so often reads as more official than they intended.
Exceptions and special cases2
Exception
When the sentence needs to name the agent
then man is impossible and the werden-passive with von is required.
Der Vertrag wurde von der Anwältin geprüft.The contract was checked by the lawyer.
Why? Man exists precisely to leave the agent out, so it cannot coexist with one.
Exception
When a verb is reflexive in this construction
then it can carry a passive sense on its own: das Buch verkauft sich gut.
Die Tür öffnet sich automatisch.The door opens automatically.
Why? A small group of verbs uses the reflexive to express what happens to the subject, without any agent.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
man declines
Man has an accusative einen and a dative einem, borrowed from ein: Das ärgert einen, Das hilft einem nicht weiter. It has no genitive and no plural, and it always takes a third-person singular verb, however many people it stands for.
So etwas ärgert einen.That sort of thing is annoying.
Worth knowing
sein plus zu is the compact official form
Der Antrag ist einzureichen means it must be submitted, and it is the register of forms, statutes and instructions. It compresses a modal and a passive into three words, which is why officialdom likes it and why it reads as officialdom when used anywhere else.
Die Unterlagen sind bis Montag vorzulegen.The documents are to be submitted by Monday.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: sein · lassen · öffnen · werden · müssen · machen · sollen · anrufen