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
    3 hours ago








  • 3





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

    – PiedPiper
    3 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
    3 hours ago








  • 3





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

    – PiedPiper
    3 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 3 hours ago









David Vogt

3,559228




3,559228










asked 4 hours ago









AaronAaron

3764




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














  • 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








1




1





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

– Björn Friedrich
3 hours ago







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

– Björn Friedrich
3 hours ago






3




3





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

– PiedPiper
3 hours ago





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

– PiedPiper
3 hours ago










1 Answer
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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?)







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    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




























      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


























        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












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        share|improve this answer










        answered 2 hours ago









        guidotguidot

        12.7k1546




        12.7k1546






























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