Normally in a sentence
we have a subject that is doing something.
He drinks
coffee.
She reads a
book.
We go to the
U.S..
Then there is the type of sentence where the subject is
actually not active but passive. If you look at the following
sentences and just ask yourself Who did it? You'll find
that there is actually nobody mentioned.
He was sentenced
to two years in prison. (Who did sentence
the poor guy?)
We were treated like criminals. (Who treated
us like criminals?)
This article was read by many people. (Who
read this article?)
In the examples, we have already seen the structure of
the English passive voice. The Germans have here - again
- some more possibilities. Let's have a look. But first
a short repetition: