Trouble with Impersonal Passive Voice usage












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




















  • 1





    Hm. I would translate etwas wird gespielt rather to something is being played.

    – Björn Friedrich
    10 hours ago








  • 3





    Possible duplicate of Impersonal passive construction where the 'es' is implied/omitted

    – PiedPiper
    10 hours ago
















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




















  • 1





    Hm. I would translate etwas wird gespielt rather to something is being played.

    – Björn Friedrich
    10 hours ago








  • 3





    Possible duplicate of Impersonal passive construction where the 'es' is implied/omitted

    – PiedPiper
    10 hours ago














2












2








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
















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




standard-german impersonal-constructions






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 10 hours ago









David Vogt

3,559228




3,559228










asked 10 hours ago









AaronAaron

3764




3764








  • 1





    Hm. I would translate etwas wird gespielt rather to something is being played.

    – Björn Friedrich
    10 hours ago








  • 3





    Possible duplicate of Impersonal passive construction where the 'es' is implied/omitted

    – PiedPiper
    10 hours ago














  • 1





    Hm. I would translate etwas wird gespielt rather to something is being played.

    – Björn Friedrich
    10 hours ago








  • 3





    Possible duplicate of Impersonal passive construction where the 'es' is implied/omitted

    – PiedPiper
    10 hours ago








1




1





Hm. I would translate etwas wird gespielt rather to something is being played.

– Björn Friedrich
10 hours ago







Hm. I would translate etwas wird gespielt rather to something is being played.

– Björn Friedrich
10 hours ago






3




3





Possible duplicate of Impersonal passive construction where the 'es' is implied/omitted

– PiedPiper
10 hours ago





Possible duplicate of Impersonal passive construction where the 'es' is implied/omitted

– PiedPiper
10 hours ago










1 Answer
1






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oldest

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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
























  • Even better example would be without doch: Da spielt jemand? (Who'd play in such a shitty place, among other interpretations)

    – Armin
    2 hours ago











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1 Answer
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active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

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active

oldest

votes









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
























  • Even better example would be without doch: Da spielt jemand? (Who'd play in such a shitty place, among other interpretations)

    – Armin
    2 hours ago
















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
























  • Even better example would be without doch: Da spielt jemand? (Who'd play in such a shitty place, among other interpretations)

    – Armin
    2 hours ago














2












2








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













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












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 9 hours ago









guidotguidot

12.7k1546




12.7k1546













  • Even better example would be without doch: Da spielt jemand? (Who'd play in such a shitty place, among other interpretations)

    – Armin
    2 hours ago



















  • Even better example would be without doch: Da spielt jemand? (Who'd play in such a shitty place, among other interpretations)

    – Armin
    2 hours ago

















Even better example would be without doch: Da spielt jemand? (Who'd play in such a shitty place, among other interpretations)

– Armin
2 hours ago





Even better example would be without doch: Da spielt jemand? (Who'd play in such a shitty place, among other interpretations)

– Armin
2 hours ago


















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