Passive with Modal Verbs
Modal क्रियाओं के साथ Passive
Combine the passive learned in B1 with a modal verb, and German stacks three verb elements at once: the modal stays in second position while the past participle and the infinitive werden both move to the very end of the clause — much like Hindi's "किया जाना चाहिए" stack.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
Structure: modal in second position, participle + werden at the end
Das muss gemacht werden. (This must be done.)
यह किया जाना चाहिए।
The modal verb (muss, kann, soll, darf) conjugates normally and sits in second position, just as with any infinitive. But instead of a single infinitive at the end, the passive adds two elements there, in a fixed order: the past participle, then the plain infinitive werden. Hindi's "किया जाना चाहिए" also has 'किया जाना' (participle+passive-aux) first, then 'चाहिए' (the modal) — German's order is the reverse of this (participle then werden, both after the modal), but the underlying idea of stacking three elements is already familiar from Hindi.
The meaning nuance comes from the modal
Der Fehler kann repariert werden. Das Rauchen darf hier nicht getan werden.
गलती ठीक की जा सकती है। यहाँ धूम्रपान नहीं किया जा सकता।
Since the modal does exactly what it always does, the passive simply inherits its meaning: müssen adds necessity ('must be done'), können adds possibility ('can be done'), sollen adds advice ('should be done'), and dürfen (usually negated) adds permission ('may not be done'). This works exactly like these modals do with active infinitives — there's nothing new to learn about the modals themselves, only where werden goes.
Talking about the past: use the modal's Präteritum, not a second auxiliary
Das Formular musste ausgefüllt werden. (The form had to be filled out.)
फ़ॉर्म भरा जाना ज़रूरी था।
To put a modal passive in the past, German simply conjugates the modal in the Präteritum (musste, konnte, sollte, durfte) and keeps the rest of the sentence in its present-tense form. The Perfekt tense isn't built here, since that would stack three infinitives at the end (gemacht werden müssen) — grammatically possible, but cumbersome, so ordinary writing avoids it and prefers the plain Präteritum modal instead.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
| German | Pronunciation | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| muss gemacht werden | moos geh-MAHKHT VAIR-den | किया जाना चाहिएkiyā jānā cāhie | must be done |
| kann repariert werden | kahn reh-pah-REERT VAIR-den | ठीक किया जा सकता हैṭhīk kiyā jā saktā hai | can be repaired |
| soll gebaut werden | zol geh-BOWT VAIR-den | बनाया जाना चाहिएbanāyā jānā cāhie | should be built |
| darf nicht geraucht werden | dahrf nikht geh-ROWKHT VAIR-den | धूम्रपान की अनुमति नहीं हैdhūmrapān kī anumati nahīñ hai | smoking is not allowed |
| muss bezahlt werden | moos beh-TSAHLT VAIR-den | भुगतान किया जाना चाहिएbhugtān kiyā jānā cāhie | must be paid |
| konnte nicht gefunden werden | KON-teh nikht geh-FOON-den VAIR-den | पाया नहीं जा सकाpāyā nahīñ jā sakā | could not be found |
| sollte erledigt werden | ZOL-teh air-LAY-dikht VAIR-den | पूरा किया जाना चाहिए थाpūrā kiyā jānā cāhie thā | should be taken care of |
| darf nicht vergessen werden | dahrf nikht fair-GEH-sen VAIR-den | भुलाया नहीं जाना चाहिएbhulāyā nahīñ jānā cāhie | must not be forgotten |
| musste abgesagt werden | MOOS-teh AHP-geh-zahkt VAIR-den | रद्द किया जाना पड़ाraddh kiyā jānā paṛā | had to be canceled |
| kann verwendet werden | kahn fair-VEN-det VAIR-den | इस्तेमाल किया जा सकता हैistemāl kiyā jā saktā hai | can be used |
| muss beachtet werden | moos beh-AHKH-tet VAIR-den | ध्यान में रखा जाना चाहिएdhyān meñ rakhā jānā cāhie | must be observed/heeded |
| sollte vermieden werden | ZOL-teh fair-MEE-den VAIR-den | बचा जाना चाहिएbacā jānā cāhie | should be avoided |