The Complete Guide to German Passive — Part 8

The Academic Passive (Gelehrtenstil / Scientific Passive)

“In academic writing, it matters less who does the work — what matters is that it is shown, proven, or discovered.” - Tymur Levitin

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The paradox before we start: formality vs. readability

In German academic writing, passive is the default:

• Es wird gezeigt, dass …
• Es wurde festgestellt, dass …

But:

• Logic says passive hides the agent, so it can make texts heavy and unclear.
• Style guides (Duden Stilwörterbuch, IDS) recommend balancing passive with clear active structures.
• Methodical exam prep still pushes passive as the “correct academic style.”

👉 Paradox: In university writing you are told “avoid too much passive,” but in exams you’re expected to demonstrate it.

1) What is the Academic Passive?

It’s the use of werden-Passiv (or sometimes es wird … constructions) to depersonalize statements in academic/scientific style.

• Wir zeigen, dass diese Methode funktioniert. (active, personal)
• Es wird gezeigt, dass diese Methode funktioniert. (academic passive, impersonal, more formal)

The subject (wir) disappears — the result or finding takes center stage.

2) Core constructions

• Es wird gezeigt, dass … → “It is shown that …”
• Es wurde festgestellt, dass … → “It was established that …”
• Es wird angenommen, dass … → “It is assumed that …”
• Es ist nachgewiesen worden, dass … → “It has been proven that …”

3) All tenses in Academic Passive

4) Typical fields and uses

• Science & research: Es wird untersucht, wie …
• Legal writing: Es wurde beschlossen, dass …
• Academic exams: Es wird gefordert, dass die Kandidaten …

5) The pitfalls (and contradictions)

A) Overuse vs. requirement

• Style guides (Duden Stilwörterbuch, IDS) say: too much passive = heavy, unreadable. Recommended: mix passive and active.
• Exam handbooks say: use passive to depersonalize → it’s the “proper” academic voice.
  👉 Paradox: in real academic publishing, clarity wins; in exams, passive marks formality.

B) The dummy subject “es”

• Required in academic style for formal impersonal passive.
• But: method books sometimes oversimplify, teaching “Es wird gesagt …” = the only correct shape.
• In reality, word order allows dropping es when another element fills first position (In dieser Studie wird gezeigt …).

C) Perfect passive with modals

• Logic/Duden: sei / wäre … werden können (with sein).
• Methodical norm: habe / hätte … werden können (with haben).
• Exams accept only haben.
  👉 Same paradox as in Part 4 and Part 7, now inside academic phrasing.

6) Examples of contradictions

• Duden / Grammis (logic):
  “The auxiliary in perfect passive should be sein.”
  → Es sei nachgewiesen worden, dass …
• Exam handbooks (method):
  Es habe nachgewiesen werden können …
  → Accepted in exams, even if logically inconsistent.

📌 For survival: know both. Use haben-forms in exams, but be aware of sein-logic for deeper understanding.

7) Comparison: Active vs. Academic Passive

• Active (personal, lighter):
  In dieser Arbeit zeigen wir, dass …
• Academic Passive (formal, heavy):
  In dieser Arbeit wird gezeigt, dass …

👉 Many modern universities encourage a balance: don’t hide behind passive too much.

8) Exam survival

• Use academic passive frequently in exams: es wird gezeigt, es wurde festgestellt, es ist nachgewiesen worden …
• For Konjunktiv + reported speech in academic texts, use: es werde gezeigt, es sei festgestellt worden …
• With modals in perfect: always exam-safe haben-forms (es habe / hätte … werden können).
• Be aware of the paradox: Duden = logic, exams = method.

Series navigation

• Part 1: The Myth of Three Passive Forms
• Part 2: Passive Tenses Without Modals
• Part 3: Passive with Modal Verbs
• Part 4: All Tenses in Full
• Part 5: Recipient Passive
• Part 6: Impersonal Passive
• Part 7: Passive in Konjunktiv
• Part 8: Academic Passive (this page)
• Part 9: The Translation Lab
• Part 10: Survival Strategies

About the author

Tymur Levitin — Founder, Head Teacher & Translator

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© Tymur Levitin — Levitin Language School / Start Language School by Tymur Levitin
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