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Trouble with Impersonal Passive Voice usage

Impersonal passive construction where the 'es' is implied/omittedVerbs associated with “Kommentar”Preposition with dativWhat is the concept expressed with the word 'quasi' in day to day conversation?Present tense with indicators of other time framesUsage of Articles and Demonstrative PronounsWords and Words with “ver-” Prefix“Nach” with “suchen”?Difficulty with “Treiben”Usage of “Noch”Replacing Various Prepositions with “Auf”

2

When and why would you use the "impersonal passive voice" in a german sentence? One example given on Wikipedia is "Es wird gespielt," which apparently translates as "Someone is playing." Why wouldn't you use "jemand" here?

Another example is "Heute wird gespielt. Dort wird gespielt." This translates as "Someone is playing today. Someone is playing there." Can someone explain the intuition/reasoning behind the format of these german sentences (and the lack of even an "es")?

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impersonal_passive_voice

standard-german impersonal-constructions

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

David Vogt

3,559228

asked 3 hours ago

AaronAaron

3764

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Hm. I would translate etwas wird gespielt rather to something is being played.
  
  – Björn Friedrich
  3 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  3
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Possible duplicate of Impersonal passive construction where the 'es' is implied/omitted
  
  – PiedPiper
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

2

When and why would you use the "impersonal passive voice" in a german sentence? One example given on Wikipedia is "Es wird gespielt," which apparently translates as "Someone is playing." Why wouldn't you use "jemand" here?

Another example is "Heute wird gespielt. Dort wird gespielt." This translates as "Someone is playing today. Someone is playing there." Can someone explain the intuition/reasoning behind the format of these german sentences (and the lack of even an "es")?

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impersonal_passive_voice

standard-german impersonal-constructions

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

David Vogt

3,559228

asked 3 hours ago

AaronAaron

3764

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Hm. I would translate etwas wird gespielt rather to something is being played.
  
  – Björn Friedrich
  3 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  3
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Possible duplicate of Impersonal passive construction where the 'es' is implied/omitted
  
  – PiedPiper
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

When and why would you use the "impersonal passive voice" in a german sentence? One example given on Wikipedia is "Es wird gespielt," which apparently translates as "Someone is playing." Why wouldn't you use "jemand" here?

Another example is "Heute wird gespielt. Dort wird gespielt." This translates as "Someone is playing today. Someone is playing there." Can someone explain the intuition/reasoning behind the format of these german sentences (and the lack of even an "es")?

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impersonal_passive_voice

standard-german impersonal-constructions

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

David Vogt

3,559228

asked 3 hours ago

AaronAaron

3764

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

David Vogt

3,559228

asked 3 hours ago

AaronAaron

3764

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

David Vogt

3,559228

asked 3 hours ago

AaronAaron

3764

edited 3 hours ago

David Vogt

3,559228

edited 3 hours ago

David Vogt

3,559228

asked 3 hours ago

AaronAaron

3764

asked 3 hours ago

AaronAaron

3764

1 Answer
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2

I find your example a bit ambiguous, since gespielt may refer to a game, a concert, a cinema and a theatre.

But it may help to see it from that perspective: Someone along with German jemand/man is a fully synthetic subject, required due to lack of knowledge, what to put there. (At least lack of knowledge is one meaning, another would be I don't care, who.)

The impersonal passive allows exactly to leave that position empty, a quite elegant construction, which automatically avoids putting an accidental stress here, as in

Da spielt doch jemand!? (Isn't somebody playing there?)

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

guidotguidot

12.7k1546

add a comment | 

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2

I find your example a bit ambiguous, since gespielt may refer to a game, a concert, a cinema and a theatre.

But it may help to see it from that perspective: Someone along with German jemand/man is a fully synthetic subject, required due to lack of knowledge, what to put there. (At least lack of knowledge is one meaning, another would be I don't care, who.)

The impersonal passive allows exactly to leave that position empty, a quite elegant construction, which automatically avoids putting an accidental stress here, as in

Da spielt doch jemand!? (Isn't somebody playing there?)

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

guidotguidot

12.7k1546

add a comment | 

2

I find your example a bit ambiguous, since gespielt may refer to a game, a concert, a cinema and a theatre.

But it may help to see it from that perspective: Someone along with German jemand/man is a fully synthetic subject, required due to lack of knowledge, what to put there. (At least lack of knowledge is one meaning, another would be I don't care, who.)

The impersonal passive allows exactly to leave that position empty, a quite elegant construction, which automatically avoids putting an accidental stress here, as in

Da spielt doch jemand!? (Isn't somebody playing there?)

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

guidotguidot

12.7k1546

add a comment | 

I find your example a bit ambiguous, since gespielt may refer to a game, a concert, a cinema and a theatre.

But it may help to see it from that perspective: Someone along with German jemand/man is a fully synthetic subject, required due to lack of knowledge, what to put there. (At least lack of knowledge is one meaning, another would be I don't care, who.)

The impersonal passive allows exactly to leave that position empty, a quite elegant construction, which automatically avoids putting an accidental stress here, as in

Da spielt doch jemand!? (Isn't somebody playing there?)

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

guidotguidot

12.7k1546

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

guidotguidot

12.7k1546

answered 2 hours ago

guidotguidot

12.7k1546

answered 2 hours ago

guidotguidot

12.7k1546