New answers tagged passive
6
'Werden' actually has quite a few uses. The subtlety is that unlike English, German actually has two distinct forms of passive, normal passive and what we call 'Zustandspassiv' (state or simply static passive).
"Das wird gemacht" translates to "it is being done". The action is not finished yet and is still ongoing.
"Das wurde gemacht" translates to "it was ...
2
In those cases 'werden' indicates passiveness. Someone else does something.
If you change it to your alternatives, the meaning of the sentences changes.
Similar to English:
Sam was disregarded by someone. - Sam disregards someone.
Something was taken over by someone. - Something took over someone.
Your final example is different. 'Werden' also ...
7
That is just how the tenses are done in German... What you try is simply not grammatically correct. I think you are getting confused by the combination of past and passive. You can say
Sam wird übergangen
which is present tense and passive voice. If you want to put it into past tense, "wird" becomes "wurde". Same with
Sie waren ihm abgenommen ...
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