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I've learnt that, to form a passive sentence from an active one, one uses "von" and then one mentions the Subjekt of the aktiv sentence:

Hans isst den Apfel. → Der Apfel wird von Hans gegessen.

(Stylistically not very nice, but grammatically OK, I hope). But one finds sentences like

Irgendwas wird durch das Gesetz geregelt.

which, presumably, is the passive voice of

Das Gesetz regelt irgendwas.

When should I use "von" and when "durch" to form the passive voice?

user19407
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c.p.
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    in order to relieve your words: while the distinction between "von" and "durch" is recommended, mixing it up is at least not totally wrong most times, although it may sound somehow awkward. – shuhalo Jul 02 '13 at 06:54

4 Answers4

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Both "von" and "durch" indicate the "Täter" in passive. That is, the agent of the passive action.

The Täter becomes the subject when you transform the passive into an active sentence.

The difference between "von" and "durch" is that you use durch when the agent takes an instrumental role.

So, in your two example sentences, Hans actively ate the apple, but the Gesetz was merely the instrument through which the government acted.

This is nicely explained here. (in German but hopefully it is clear).

To summarise that example they first have a mechanic who fixes a motor vs. a therapy which increases the rate of healing. The mechanic takes "von", since they are actively fixing the enginer, which the therapy takes "durch" because it is simple the instrument.

David Hall
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    This can be an annoying distinction to grasp - I remember having many arguments with my German teacher about whether durch was correct, since I was certain something was instrumental. I think I remember him saying that von was never incorrect so safe to use when in doubt - but better get confirmation of that from a native speaker. – David Hall Jun 30 '13 at 17:44
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    Usually, one can use both von and durch, but mostly one is more common than the other. The distinction instrumental or not is a guideline, that doesn't do the job all the times. Positive Examples: Hans eating and apples and laws regulating something. Negative Example: Literal Instruments: Der Ton wird durch die Tuba erzeugt. and Der Ton wird von der Tuba erzeugt. Both are equally useable. I guess, it needs a lot of experience with the German language to always be sure about which one to use. – Toscho Jun 30 '13 at 22:42
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    "can't think of a better word" -> Because agent is the right term for this. – Em1 Jul 01 '13 at 07:01
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    Furthermore, if you say that durch indicates "the instrument through which someone acted", I'm not sure if this makes clear what preposition is to use for, e.g., "by the wind (storm)". Wind (storm) is actually not a instrument through someone acted. But you also cannot say that the wind (storm) "actively acts" as it is not a person. So, for what reason do we go with "durch" rather than "von"? – Em1 Jul 01 '13 at 07:15
  • @Em1 would you say that in this case the wind takes durch since it is a Mittel? I will edit that into the answer if it is correct. And I'll also make it a bit clearer that these are just guidelines, and often a real Sprachgefühl is the only way to be certain what the right preposition is. – David Hall Jul 01 '13 at 11:23
  • I think this point needs further research. I don't know what it really is. Well, it's the agent for sure. But it's not an instrument or "Mittel" (means?). But though the preposition is "durch". --- My own intuition is that this is a thing you don't need a language feel and one of the few things where you can put the whole problem into rules without exception. – Em1 Jul 01 '13 at 12:09
  • @Em1 I've always translated mittel to "medium" - Waschmittel and Lebensmittel being the first places I encountered it :) In the link I posted thay say durch can be either instrumental or das Mittel. I would be very interested if you can find a solid set of rules for this, since as a native English speaker my intuition for durch is often incorrect. – David Hall Jul 01 '13 at 12:19
  • Sure. When I get time for this I'll have a look at this. May take a couple of days though. – Em1 Jul 01 '13 at 14:33
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    Actually, upon further reflection it seems to be more complicated than I thought in the first place. Both "von" and "durch" can be used with wind. "Die Blätter wurden vom[durch den] Wind aufgewirbelt." I'm not sure if this is just a matter of style but the active voice is the same "Der Wind wirbelt die Blätter auf." At this point I realize that the question is very tricky. Are both correct? Is one of them just colloquial but wrong from a grammatical point of view? I don't know. – Em1 Jul 01 '13 at 19:27
  • Notably, the agent may have the preposition "durch" even though it is a person: "Der Antrag wird direkt durch den Verteidigungsminister bearbeitet." In that case, the agent person is rather an instrument. – shuhalo Jul 02 '13 at 06:58
  • Interesting. I never noticed this. But it is true. Mein Urlaub wurde mir durch meinen Chef gestrichen means that my boss was only following orders when he cancelled my holidays. –  Feb 08 '21 at 19:28
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The answer of David Hall - that durch is used in an instrumental way, and that von is merely naming the agent who does something - already has a point.

I just want to add two things:

Intention

durch is implying an intention, so that the agent named is actual just an instrumental means of someone.

So

Das Fenster wurde durch den Wind zerstört. [The window got destroyed by the wind.]

sounds a bit skewed, because it slightly implies, that someone used the wind in order to break the window.

A postive example of using durch:

Durch die flächendeckende Impfung sind die Masern zurückgedrängt worden. [By the means of comprehensive vaccination measles have been repelled.]

Here, die Impfung is just the instrument someone used in order to achieve something.

Impersonal Agent

The agent does not need to be a person. agent is a grammatical terminus technicus here and does not refer to a person. So

Das Fenster wurde vom Wind zerstört. [The window got destroyed by the wind.]

is totally fine.

Jonathan Scholbach
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To be honest, "das Fenster wurde durch den Wind zerstört" does sound correct to me. I do not fancy someone using the wind as an instrument when I hear the sentence. Pragmatically there seems just a very tiny difference here between "von" and "durch".

But after sleeping over it, I want to add: The distinction is most useful when you need to add both, 'von' and 'durch', to one sentence:

Das Haus wurde von den Angreifern durch Brandlstiftung zerstört.

The house was destroyed by the attackers with fire.

Frankstr
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You can think of it in English like this:

von = by an agent acting directly on

durch = by means/way of or through an instrumentality

The cars were smashed by the hail = Die Autos wurden vom Hagel zerschmettert.

The house was connected to the street by means of/through a driveway= Das Haus war durch eine Auffahrt mit der Straße verbunden.

I get woken by the sunlight = Ich werde vom Sonnenlicht geweckt.

I'll wake myself up by means of/through sheer will = Ich werde mich durch bloßen Willen wecken.

I made it by/through pure luck = Ich habe es durch pures Glück geschafft.

As you can see, it's not always a simple matter of "by" in English either. The passive voice is quite funky.

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Daniel Ruben
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