The passive puts the action in the foreground, not the person performing it. Precisely in formal, factual texts and in the language elements it is important. Here you learn how to form and use it.
Forming the passive
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You form the process passive with werden + past participle: “Das Haus wird gebaut.” In other tenses it is “wurde gebaut” (simple past) or “ist gebaut worden” (present perfect). To be distinguished from this is the stative passive with sein + past participle, which describes a result: “Das Haus ist gebaut.”
What this part is about is shown in telc B2 language elements.
When to use the passive
You use the passive when the action is more important than the doer or when it is unclear who is acting: “In Deutschland wird viel Brot gegessen.” In factual texts it seems neutral and is part of the B2 style. Related in sentence structure are the relative clauses, and the subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) is also part of the elevated style.
In the telc exam
The passive is a typical gap topic. How to proceed strategically is in solving language elements strategically, and where the part sits in the procedure is shown by the page on the exam sections.
The bottom line
With “werden + past participle” you form the passive confidently, and with “sein + past participle” you describe the result. Whoever knows the difference hits the right form in the gap text.
