Summary
- Man,
reflexive constructions, sich lassen + infinitive
and sein zu + infinitive can all be used as substitutes
for the passive voice.
- Whereas
"man" can generally be used whenever one
could use "one" in English (as in: "One shouldn't
eat through one's nose"), it is difficult to give a
general rule for when one can use reflexive constructions,
sich lassen + infinitive and sein zu + infinitive.
==> The purpose of this page is to give you the tools
to understand these constructions when you see them, and
thus to help you begin to develop a feeling for when one
can use them [passive substitute there!] by making it possible
to recognize passive substitutes when they are used in the
German you hear and read.
Practice
Exercises
Passiv-Ersatz
==> Passiv
Passiv
==> Passiv-Ersatz
Deutsch
==> Englisch
Man
Man
is used more commonly in German than one is in English:
| Wie
macht man das? |
How
is that done?/How does one do that? |
| Man
kann Jupiter mit bloßem Auge sehen. |
Jupiter
can be seen (One can see Jupiter) with the naked eye. |
Notes:
If
you use man, remember that:
(1)
you should not switch to er/sie in the same sentence:
| Wenn
man nicht weiß, wie man das macht,
sollte man es nicht tun. |
If
one doesn't know how that is done, one shouldn't do it. |
(2)
man is nominative; its accusative is einen,
dative is einem, and genitive is sein; the forms
einen and einem are awkward, however, and generally
avoided if possible:
| Zigaretten
können einen töten. |
Cigarettes
can kill you (one). |
| Im
Weltraum kann einem schnell kalt werden. |
One
can get cold fast in space. |
| Wenn
man sein Auto wäscht, wird es regnen. |
If
one washes one's car, it will rain. |
Reflexive
Constructions
One
can sometimes (but only sometimes!!) replace the passive with
a reflexive construction:
| Wie
schreibt sich das? |
How
is that spelled? |
| Autofahren
lernt sich leicht. |
Driving
is learned easily./Driving is easy to learn. |
Sometimes
the best translation is can be + passive:
| Das
erklärt sich so:… |
This
can be explained as follows:… |
Sich
lassen + Infinitive
This
means that something can be done, or that someone
lets something be done.
| Das
lässt sich am besten mit einem Beispiel erklären. |
This
can be explained most easily with an example. |
| Lässt
sich Alzheimer heilen? |
Can
Alzheimer's disease be cured? |
| Optimismus
lässt sich lernen |
Optimism
can be learned. |
| Ich
lasse mich nicht zum Narren halten [jemanden zum
Narren halten = to make a fool of someone]. |
I
will not allow myself to be made a fool of. |
Note
that sich lassen + infinitive can also mean "to
have something done"--in this sense it is not a passive
substitute:
| Ich
lasse mir die Haare schneiden. |
I'm
having my hair cut. |
| Wir
lassen uns das Frühstück ins Zimmer bringen. |
We're
having breakfast brought to our room. |
Sein
zu + Infinitive
This
means that something can be done or must be done,
depending on the context.
| Das
ist nicht zu verstehen. |
This
cannot be understood/This is incomprehensible. |
| Die
Hausaufgaben sind bis morgen zu machen. |
The
homework must be done by tomorrow. |
|
