Electronically commutated motor

An electronically commutated motor has a rotor ( 108 ), a stator having a stator winding arrangement ( 102 ), and a full bridge circuit ( 137 ) for controlling the current (i<SUB>1</SUB>, i<SUB>2</SUB>) in the stator winding arrangement ( 102 ); in the full bridge circuit ( 137 ), first semiconductor switches ( 114, 130 ) are connected to a first DC supply lead ( 116 ) and second semiconductor switches ( 132, 136 ) to the other DC supply lead ( 122 ), said second switches being bidirectionally conductive of current in the switched-on state. The motor has an arrangement ( 172, 198, 188 ) for opening the first semiconductor switches ( 114, 130 ) and for closing the second semiconductor switches ( 132, 136 ) during a predetermined operating state. An arrangement ( 202 ) is provided for monitoring the direction of the current (i<SUB>1</SUB>, i<SUB>2</SUB>) which flows in the second semiconductor switches ( 132, 136 ) when the latter are conductive during the predetermined operating state.