We have gone through the Vorgangspassiv in both the present tense, and in the present perfect and past tenses. This week, we are going to look at another passive voice structure called the Zustandspassiv. This is often a bit confusing for English speakers, but the best way to explain the difference between these two is that the Vorgangspassiv focuses on the action, and the Zustandspassiv focuses on the resulting state. The word der Zustand means "the state" or "the condition," after all.  

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Here is a classic example of this difference:

Vorgangspassiv: Die Tür wird geschlossen. (The door is being closed.)
Zustandspassiv: Die Tür ist geschlossen. (The door is closed.)

The Zustandspassiv is also called the sein-passiv because it involves sein as an auxiliary verb rather than werden:

conjugation of sein (present tense) + past participle

This means that the participle looks and functions like an adjective. Here are more examples:

So, das Gericht ist jetzt fertig gekocht.

So, the dish is now cooked.

Caption 69, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Rheinland-Pfalz

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In the Vorgangspassiv, we would say Das Gericht wird jetzt gekocht, which would mean that the food is still being prepared. With sein, this sentence in the Zustandspassiv tells us that the food is ready! 

Sie sind lang und dünn und sie sind aus Holz gemacht.

They are long and thin and they are made of wood.

Captions 27-28, Deutsch mit Eylin: Denk schnell!

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Für mich ist hier gar nichts geklärt.

For me, nothing is cleared up here.

Caption 14, Heidi: Ein schlechter Tausch

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If we take the Zustandspassiv into the past tense, we have the same structure featuring sein in the preterite:

conjugation of sein (past tense) + past participle

Und das war auch sehr schön gemacht mit den ganzen Stationen.

And that was done very nicely with all of the stations.

Caption 69, Erstes Frankfurter „Schuljahr der Nachhaltigkeit“: Abschlussfeier

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Der Schuster sah verwundert auf, denn er wusste, das Fenster war geschlossen.

The Shoemaker looked up in surprise, for he knew that the window was closed.

Caption 14, Märchen: Sagenhaft Die Wichtelmänner

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Da war ich noch nicht geboren.

I wasn't born yet.

Caption 17, Nicos Weg: Heimat

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As we often experience with the perfect tense, the Zustandspassiv im Perfekt is best translated with the English simple past tense. Here is the structure and one example: 

conjugation of sein (past tense) + past participle + gewesen

Ja, ich... das ist nicht geplant gewesen, ne?

Yes, I... that was not planned, right?

Caption 6, Moses Pelham: Solo-Album

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Further Learning
Write a few simple sentences in different tenses, and then transform them using the Vorgangspassiv and Zustandspassiv. You can find more examples of these structures on Yabla German.

This week, we'll look at German verbs, adjectives, and adverbs that relate to taking care and being careful. 

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You may already know the word vorsichtig. As is normal for German adjectives, it is also an adverb, so it means both "careful" and "carefully."

Seid vorsichtig und macht bloß nichts kaputt.

Be careful and don't break anything.

Caption 47, Playmobil: Skispringen mit Familie Hauser

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Fahr vorsichtig, ja?

Drive carefully, OK?

Caption 35, Die Pfefferkörner: Alles auf Anfang

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Other words that can mean "careful" are sorgfältig, which implies a thoroughness or accuracy, and behutsam, which implies gentleness and caution.

Hast du die schon mal so sorgfältig bügeln sehen?

Have you ever seen them iron so carefully?

Caption 19, Playmobil: Skispringen mit Familie Hauser

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Wir alle sollten unsere Kontakte auch weiter behutsam einschränken.

We should all continue to cautiously restrict our contact.

Caption 57, Wir müssen über Corona reden: Mit Olaf Scholz, Luisa & Dr. Daniel Zickler

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Und ich nahm ihn ganz behutsam in die Hand

And I took it very gently in my hand

Caption 5, Nicole: Papillon

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Then there is also the word schonend. This relates to the verb schonen, which has a number of possible translations, including "to treat with care," "to protect," "to preserve," and "to rest" or "to go easy on."

Und es wird schonend mit dem Boden umgegangen, damit er viele Jahre Gemüse bringen kann.

And the soil is treated carefully so that it can produce vegetables for many years.

Captions 27-28, Berlin: Domäne Dahlem

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Um die Pferde zu schonen, werden die Vierbeiner übrigens selbst auch gedoubelt.

In order to treat the horses with care, by the way, these four-legged actors also have doubles.

Caption 21, Für Tierfreunde: Pferde beim Film

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Na ja, Frankfurt ist ja eine Stadt, die sehr früh als Großstadt politische Entscheidungen getroffen hat, Umwelt zu schonen. 

Well, yes, Frankfurt is a city that, very early on, as a major city, made political decisions to protect the environment.

Captions 50-51, Erstes Frankfurter „Schuljahr der Nachhaltigkeit“ Abschlussfeier

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Other verbs that relate to being careful or watching out are aufpassen and achtgeben, which can both relate to watching out for your own wellbeing or that of others. 

Da muss man aufpassen, wenn man die Straße überqueren will.

You have to be careful when you want to cross the street.

Caption 22, Shuah Auf der Straße in Berlin

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Kannst du auf die anderen achtgeben?

Can you watch over the others? 

Caption 12, Heidi Kann Heidi Peter retten?

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Further Learning
You can look up more examples with the words vorsichtig, sorgfältig, and behutsam on Yabla German in order to better understand the slight differences in their meanings. 

If you are familiar with über ("above," "over," "across") and hinaus ("out," "afield"), the fact that über hinaus (also darüber hinaus) is often translated as "beyond" may not surprise you. Like in English, it can be used to talk about physical distance, or be used in a similar context to außerdem, which means "additionally" or "moreover."

Es ging über die Wiese hinaus in die große, weite Welt.

It went across the meadow, out into the big, wide world.

Caption 49, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Das hässliche Entlein

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Ist die Drohne auch mit einer Kamera ausgestattet, muss ihr Besitzer darüber hinaus noch mehr beachten.

If the drone is also equipped with a camera, its owner must additionally pay even more attention.

Captions 36-37, Rhein-Main-TV: Strengere Regeln - Lohnt sich eine Drohne überhaupt noch?

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...und vielleicht noch darüber hinaus mit verschiedenen Medien zu arbeiten.

...and maybe even beyond that, working with different kinds of media.

Caption 50, Sprachschulen: Sprachcaffe Frankfurt

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Although it may look similar, über hinweg cannot be used interchangeably with über hinaus. It is often translated with "over" or "through" and can be used to talk about time passing. Take a look:

Für Menschen sind Tiere oft treue Begleiter und helfen über so manche einsame Stunde hinweg.

Animals are often loyal companions for people, and help them through many a lonely hour.

Captions 1-2, Für Tierfreunde: Wohin mit Tieren wenn Besitzer sterben

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Wir haben mit den vierten Klassen über ein ganzes Jahr hinweg zu unterschiedlichen Themen gearbeitet...

Over the course of an entire year, we have worked on various themes with the fourth grade class...

Captions 11-12, Erstes Frankfurter „Schuljahr der Nachhaltigkeit“: Abschlussfeier

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As you can see, both of the examples above refer to time, and not to distance or extent. But in this next example, über hinaus very clearly means "over" and "away":

Eines Tages wird es so weit sein, und bis dahin träume ich mich über die Mauer hinweg zu dir.

One day it will be the case, and until then I will dream myself over the wall to you.

Caption 29, Lilly unter den Linden: Umzug in die DDR

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Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and make sure you understand how these phrases are used in a sentence. For each sentence you see, consider which other word could be used and what this says about the meaning of über hinaus or über hinweg in that particular context.