Lesson 15-3 - Lektion 15-3
The statal passive in German
Lesson 15: Travelling. Activity 3
From this activity you will know how to:
- fill up the car at a fuel station
- say that you have a breakdown
- ask to tow your car away
- say that an accident happened
Learn the words and expressions for the dialogue
breakdown, puncture
I had a breakdown on the way.
full
The tram is full.
to get petrol or gas; to refuel
Fill it up, please!
oil
Change the oil please!
1) loose, off; 2) etw. ist (mit jdm) los — sth is wrong (with sb)
What’s wrong? What’s the matter?
engine, motor
The engine’s not working properly.
workshop
Where is the nearest workshop?
repair
How long does the repair take?
journey, trip
I wish you a good trip! / Have a pleasant journey!
to tow, to take in tow; to tow away
Tow me away, please!
car, automobile
Where can I have my car washed?
highway, motorway, autobahn
How do I get to the highway?
paper; document(s)
Show me your car documents!
to happen, to occur
Has something happened?
accident
An accident happened here.
police
Call the police, please!
Pay attention to the form and the usage of the words
The noun das Papier is used in singular and plural in different meanings: in singular, it denotes paper as substance, in plural — «documents»:
Haben Sie ein Stück Papier?
Do you have a piece of paper?
Meine Papiere sind im Hotel.
My documents are in the hotel.
Compare the nouns die Panne and der Unfall:
Unterwegs hatte ich eine Panne.
I had a breakdown on the way.
Unterwegs hatte ich einen Unfall.
I had an accident on the way.The adjectives normal, super and super plus denote different types of fuel:
Volltanken bitte! — Normal? — Nein, Super!
Fill it up, please! — Normal? — No, Super!The colloquial phrase Mach ich schon. «I’ll do it.» has an unusual word order — the subject goes on the second place.
Remember the following way of word-formation (1)
tank(en) + die Stelle = die Tankstelle filling station
der Wagen + die Papiere = die Wagenpapiere car documents
Practise in reading the words
Ich habe eine Panne
Grammar points
In the previous activity you learned about the spoken past tense (perfekt) in the passive voice. The similar in meaning and usage structure is formed with the word sein and participle II of the main verb. It is called the statal passive. The statal passive describes the condition or state of something:
Das Auto ist repariert (worden).
The car is repaired.
It is necessary to distinguish the statal passive from the active perfekt. The verbs forming perfekt with the help of the auxiliary verb sein are intransitive and denote movement, change of state etc. (fahren, kommen etc.), while the statal passive, as all other passive forms, is formed out of transitive verbs only, compare:
Das Flugzeug ist gelandet.
The plane (has) landed.
Das Flugzeug ist reserviert.
The plane is reserved.
The statal passive has the same tense forms as the passive with the verb werden (see the table).
If a passive sentence includes the agent (the person or thing that performs the action), then this word is used with the preposition von or durch. At the same time, the preposition von is usually used with people (by), while the preposition durch — with things (with, by):
Ich war vom Direktor eingeladen.
I was invited by the director.
Mein Wagen war durch ein anderes Auto abgeschleppt.
My car was towed away by another car.
Passive formation
The statal passive
| Present | Past | Future | |
| ich | bin gerufen | war gerufen | werde gerufen sein |
| du | bist gerufen | warst gerufen | wirst gerufen sein |
| er | ist gerufen | war gerufen | wird gerufen sein |
| wir | sind gerufen | waren gerufen | werden gerufen sein |
| ihr | seid gerufen | wart gerufen | werdet gerufen sein |
| Sie | sind gerufen | waren gerufen | werden gerufen sein |
1. You do not know how long it will take you to get to a certain place. Ask a question. What answer would you give if you were the interlocutor?
B. Eine halbe Stunde Fahrt auf der Autobahn.
Continue:
der Flugplatz, der Flughafen, die Tankstelle, die Werkstatt, die Autobahnbrücke, die Reparaturwerkstatt, der Hauptbahnhof.
2. You want to know who performed a certain action. Ask a certain question. What answer may you hear?
B. Ich glaube, von einem Kollegen.
Continue:
den Flug buchen, das Auto waschen, den Wagen reparieren, das Auto abschleppen, den Wagen volltanken, die Werkstatt anrufen.
3. You want to get certain services on a filling station. Ask about them. What may you hear as a reply?
B. Hatten Sie eine Panne? Der Motor läuft schlecht.
Continue:
20 Liter tanken, das Öl nachsehen, den Wagen abschleppen, den Motor reparieren, das Öl wechseln, das Auto reparieren.
4. You had a breakdown. Ask to help you. What question would you ask in this situation?
B. Ich habe eine Panne. Können Sie mir helfen?
Continue:
den Wagen abschleppen, den Motor nachsehen, mich zur Werkstatt mitnehmen, die Polizei anrufen, mich zur Tankstelle fahren.
5. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate words from the dialogue.
1. Gibt es unterwegs eine ? 2. Wo ist die nächste ? 3. Was ist ? 4. Können Sie mich bitte ? 5. Ich habe eine . 6. Bitte ! 7. Sie müssen zur fahren. 8. Sehen Sie nach!
6. Reconstruct the dialogue by filling in the gaps with the appropriate words.
.
Sie müssen zur Werkstatt fahren.
7. Try to reproduce the dialogue “Ich habe eine Panne” by memory.
Check yourself!
What expressions will you use if you want to:
fill up the car at a fuel station
say that you have a breakdown
ask to tow your car away
say that an accident happened
