In passive constructions, a sentence changes its structure so that the object of the transitive verb becomes the subject of the sentence.
In Hindi, the passive voice is formed by adding one of the finite forms of the verb जाना jaanaa to the participle II of the main verb.
There are two types of passive constructions. In the first one, the past participle and the auxiliary verb जाना jaanaa always agree with the subject (which is the object of the transitive verb) in number and gender; in the second one, the object of the transitive verb takes the postposition को ko, thus, the predicate is in the masculine singular form.
Ex: किताब पढ़ी गई।
kitaab paRhii gaii.
'The book was read'
कहा जाता है कि...
kahaa jaataa hai ki…
'It is said that…', 'they say…'
मुझे दुर्घटना के बारे में बताया गया।
mujhe durghaTnaa ke baare meN bataayaa gaayaa.
'I was told about the accident.'
आप के थैलों को घर भेजा गया।
aap ke thailoN ko ghar bhejaa gayaa.
'Your bags were sent to the house.'
The functions of the passive voice in Hindi are similar to those in English. However, the passive voice is much rarer in Hindi than in English. Active constructions are preferred, especially in sentences where both subject and object are known. For example, it is better to translate the English sentence 'The book was written by this author' with an active construction 'This author has written the book' or using the participle II. It is often possible (and preferable) to use the active intransitive verb instead of the passive transitive one. There are special forms for it in Hindi (see the chapter 'Causative verbs').
Ex: बिकना biknaa 'to be sold' - बेचना becnaa 'to sell'
बनना bannaa 'to be built, to be made' - बनाना banaanaa 'to build, to make'
Compare: (the first variant is preferable)
यहाँ लहंगे बिकते हैं।
yahaaN lehańge bikte haiN.
'The skirts are sold here.' (act., in.)
यहाँ लहंगे बेचे जाते हैं।
yahaaN lehańge bece jaate haiN.
'The skirts are sold here.' (pas., tr.)
There is, however, a special use of the passive voice which occurs very frequently in Hindi but does not exist in English. When used in this special way, the verb in the passive voice is always preceded by the negative particle नहीं nahiiN 'not' and expresses somebody's inability or incapacity to do something. The main verb may be either transitive or intransitive. Notice that the past participle of the verb जाना jaanaa is जाया jaayaa, not गया gayaa. The subject in a sentence with this construction is marked by the postposition से se or के द्वारा ke dvaaraa 'with the help of'.
Ex: मुझ से यह दर्वाज़ा नहीं खुला जा रहा है।
mujh se yeh darvaazaa nahiiN khulaa jaa rahaa hai.
'I can't open this door.'
उस से सीधे नहीं बैठा जाता है।
us se siidhe nahiiN baiThaa jaataa hai.
'He cannot sit straight.'
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