Two ways to start with the object
A text holds together when each sentence starts with something already known. If that known thing is the object of the action, English has to use the passive. German has two options: front the object in an active sentence, or use the passive. Both link to the previous sentence. They differ in what the object becomes.
Die Stadt hat ein Gutachten zur Brücke in Auftrag gegeben.
The city commissioned a report on the bridge.
New information at the end: ein Gutachten.
The next sentence
Active, object fronted
Das Gutachten hat ein Ingenieurbüro aus Köln erstellt.
The report was produced by an engineering firm from Cologne.
Gutachten is topic but stays the object.
Passive
Das Gutachten wurde von einem Ingenieurbüro aus Köln erstellt.
The report was produced by an engineering firm from Cologne.
Gutachten is topic and subject.
One subject, many steps
When the passive keeps the same subject, clauses can share it and drop the repetition. A report on a process, a case or a product becomes a single clean line. The active version with fronted objects needs a pronoun or a new subject in every clause.
Der Antrag wurde im März eingereicht, im Mai geprüft und im Juni abgelehnt.
The application was submitted in March, reviewed in May and rejected in June.
One subject, three participles.
Den Antrag hat Frau Berger im März eingereicht, die Behörde hat ihn im Mai geprüft und im Juni abgelehnt.
Ms Berger submitted the application in March; the authority reviewed it in May and rejected it in June.
Correct, but the thread jumps from Antrag to Frau Berger to Behörde.
A chain across a paragraph
Ask for each sentence: what is known, and what is new? The new part of one sentence becomes the start of the next. Use the voice that puts the known part first and avoids an empty subject.
Im Frühjahr hat die Stadt ein Gutachten in Auftrag gegeben.
In spring the city commissioned a report.
Known: die Stadt. New: ein Gutachten.
Es wurde von einem Büro aus Köln erstellt.
It was produced by a firm from Cologne.
Known: es. New: the firm. Passive keeps the report as subject.
Diesem Büro war schon früher Nachlässigkeit vorgeworfen worden.
That firm had been accused of negligence before.
Known: the firm, fronted in the Dativ. The passive leaves the accusers unnamed.
Die Stadt hält trotzdem an dem Gutachten fest.
The city is nevertheless sticking with the report.
The city acts again and is the topic, so the active returns.
If the known thing is a recipient, the bekommen passive makes it the subject: Die Mieter bekommen die Nebenkosten erstattet. Now the next clause can continue with sie.
