English by tempts learners to treat से and के द्वारा as interchangeable translations. They are not. के द्वारा identifies a deliberately presented passive agent, especially in official or analytical prose (formal). The safest core uses of agent-like से construe someone as the source through whom an event happened: the action may be accidental, beyond that person's capacity, or induced by someone else. Intentional passive-agent से also occurs in Urdu-influenced, regional, and colloquial usage, but it is not the most reliable neutral Standard Hindi choice. In ordinary conversation, a fully intentional, important doer is often clearest as the subject of an active ने clause.
The decisive question is therefore not “Does English have by?” It is “What role and viewpoint does Hindi assign this participant?” Complete passive paradigms belong on the expressed-agent passive page; here the task is choosing the agent phrase.
The core contrast
| Choice | Typical construal | Register | Diagnostic frame |
|---|---|---|---|
| के द्वारा / द्वारा | identified author, issuer, designer, or institutional agent in a passive | (formal); reports, notices, labels, academic prose | patient + agent द्वारा + passive predicate |
| से | especially an affected, accidental, unable, or induced participant; also instrument/source | neutral in these core constructions; broader intentional-agent use varies by region and Urdu influence | participant से + event, often with जाना/होना or a causative |
| ने | intentional doer foregrounded as the active subject | neutral, including conversation | agent ने + perfective transitive predicate |
यह रिपोर्ट स्वतंत्र विशेषज्ञों के द्वारा तैयार की गई।
yah riporṭ svatantra viśeṣagyoṃ ke dvārā taiyār kī gaī.
This report was prepared by independent experts. (formal)
स्वतंत्र विशेषज्ञों ने यह रिपोर्ट तैयार की।
svatantra viśeṣagyoṃ ne yah riporṭ taiyār kī.
Independent experts prepared this report. (neutral)
Both sentences identify deliberate authors. The passive keeps रिपोर्ट as topic and packages the experts as attribution; the active makes the experts the discourse center. विशेषज्ञों से तैयार की गई would invite a different frame—someone arranged for the experts to prepare it—or would sound incomplete without that causative context.
A compact decision tree
- Is the named person or institution the main news? Use an active clause, normally with ने in the perfective.
- Must the patient remain the topic while authorship is explicitly attributed? Use द्वारा/के द्वारा, especially in a formal text.
- Does the clause mean “could/could not be done by X,” “happened through X, perhaps accidentally,” or “X was made/asked to do it”? Use से in the relevant construction. Broader intentional-agent से is possible in some regional, colloquial, and Urdu-influenced usage, but do not assume it is interchangeable with formal द्वारा.
- Is the phrase actually an instrument, source, material, cause, or point of comparison? That is ordinary से, not an agent choice at all.
This procedure depends on syntax and speaker stance, not on a one-word gloss.
द्वारा: detached attribution
द्वारा and के द्वारा place the agent inside a passive clause. Compact institutional nouns often appear directly before द्वारा—सरकार द्वारा, समिति द्वारा—while genitive forms are normal with pronouns: मेरे द्वारा, आपके द्वारा. Expanded noun phrases also commonly take के द्वारा. Both variants are (formal); के द्वारा is not a more emphatic passive.
यह सूचना नगर निगम द्वारा जारी की गई है।
yah sūcnā nagar nigam dvārā jārī kī gaī hai.
This notice has been issued by the municipal corporation. (formal)
आपके द्वारा भेजे गए दस्तावेज़ मिल गए हैं।
āpke dvārā bheje gae dastāvez mil gae haiṃ.
The documents sent by you have been received. (formal)
An unmarked patient, not the agent phrase, controls passive agreement: feminine सूचना ... जारी की गई, plural दस्तावेज़ ... भेजे गए. द्वारा is especially useful when the institutional source matters but the document, rule, decision, or work remains the topic. An animate patient may retain को, especially with formal द्वारा; it then cannot control agreement, so the predicate is normally default masculine singular:
सीता को पिता जी द्वारा घर से भेजा गया।
sītā ko pitā jī dvārā ghar se bhejā gayā.
Sita was sent away from home by her father. (formal)
In spontaneous conversation, however, मेरे द्वारा चाय बनाई गई is grammatically possible but stiff. मैंने चाय बनाई is the natural answer to “Who made tea?” Register is part of grammatical choice here, not decorative style advice.
से with capacity and affected agency
In ability-like passives, से marks the person whose capacity is at issue. A negative is especially common; the form says that the event does not get accomplished through that person.
मुझसे इतना भारी डिब्बा नहीं उठाया जाएगा।
mujhse itnā bhārī ḍibbā nahīṃ uṭhāyā jāegā.
I won't be able to lift such a heavy box.
क्या तुमसे यह काम आज पूरा हो पाएगा?
kyā tumse yah kām āj pūrā ho pāegā?
Will you be able to finish this work today? (informal)
Replacing मुझसे with मेरे द्वारा removes the capacity construal and produces bureaucratic attribution: “the box will not be lifted by me.” The propositions are close, but the speaker stance differs. से presents the participant as constrained or affected; द्वारा merely records agency.
Accidental-action constructions behave similarly:
मुझसे गलती से आपकी फ़ाइल मिट गई।
mujhse galtī se āpkī fāil miṭ gaī.
I accidentally deleted your file.
मेरे द्वारा आपकी फ़ाइल मिटाई गई।
mere dvārā āpkī fāil miṭāī gaī.
Your file was deleted by me. (formal, detached attribution)
The first example distances the speaker from full control without denying involvement. The second sounds like a record of who performed the deletion; it does not itself say it was accidental. Here discourse stance—not merely animacy—creates the contrast.
Minimal pairs in causative clauses
With a causative predicate, से can mark the causee: the person made, asked, or enabled to perform the action. द्वारा instead attributes the passive event to an agent. Holding the nouns constant exposes the difference.
यह काम रवि से कराया गया।
yah kām ravi se karāyā gayā.
Ravi was made or asked to do this work.
यह काम रवि के द्वारा किया गया।
yah kām ravi ke dvārā kiyā gayā.
This work was done by Ravi. (formal)
The first sentence implies another causer, even if that person is not named. Ravi is animate but not necessarily autonomous. The second simply identifies Ravi as performer.
लेख प्रिया से लिखवाया गया।
lekh priyā se likhvāyā gayā.
Priya was commissioned or made to write the article.
लेख प्रिया द्वारा लिखा गया।
lekh priyā dvārā likhā gayā.
The article was written by Priya. (formal)
Do not infer coercion automatically from से; लिखवाना can describe arranging or commissioning. The causative morphology supplies the induced-participation meaning. से alone is too broad to guarantee it.
When से is not an agent at all
से also marks instruments, materials, sources, causes, routes, and comparisons. These roles can occur beside an agent and must not be collapsed into English by.
पत्र मीरा द्वारा नीली स्याही से लिखा गया।
patr mīrā dvārā nīlī syāhī se likhā gayā.
The letter was written by Meera in blue ink. (formal)
मीरा द्वारा is the agent; नीली स्याही से is the instrument/material. Two English phrases might both use with/by, but Hindi role marking keeps them distinct.
तेज़ हवा से खिड़की खुल गई।
tez havā se khiṛkī khul gaī.
The window opened because of the strong wind.
The wind is an inanimate cause, not a formal author. तेज़ हवा द्वारा would anthropomorphize the wind and sound comically bureaucratic outside deliberate stylistic play.
A dialogue: grammar and social tone
प्रबंधक: रिपोर्ट किसके द्वारा तैयार की गई? — सहायक: सीमा जी ने तैयार की है।
prabandhak: riporṭ kiske dvārā taiyār kī gaī? — sahāyak: sīmā jī ne taiyār kī hai.
Manager: By whom was the report prepared? — Assistant: Ms Seema prepared it. (formal question, neutral answer)
The manager's question fits an audit or official review. In a casual team chat, रिपोर्ट किसने तैयार की? is warmer and more direct. रिपोर्ट किससे तैयार कराई गई? would ask whom someone engaged or instructed to prepare it—a different event structure, not just a less formal wording.
Common Mistakes
Translating every English “by” with से
❌ यह नीति मंत्रालय से जारी की गई।
Poor for neutral formal attribution — से can suggest source, means, or induced agency.
✅ यह नीति मंत्रालय द्वारा जारी की गई।
yah nīti mantrālay dvārā jārī kī gaī.
This policy was issued by the ministry. (formal)
Using द्वारा in a natural capacity statement
यह खाना मेरे द्वारा नहीं खाया जाएगा।
yah khānā mere dvārā nahīṃ khāyā jāegā.
This food will not be eaten by me. (formal, detached attribution)
✅ मुझसे यह खाना नहीं खाया जाएगा।
mujhse yah khānā nahīṃ khāyā jāegā.
I won't be able to eat this food.
Missing the causee meaning of से
❌ मैंने रिपोर्ट रवि द्वारा लिखवाई।
Wrong for the intended ordinary causative frame — the commissioned writer is marked with से.
✅ मैंने रिपोर्ट रवि से लिखवाई।
maĩne riporṭ ravi se likhvāī.
I had Ravi write the report.
Combining active ने and passive द्वारा
❌ समिति ने द्वारा यह नियम बनाया गया।
Incorrect — ने marks an active perfective subject; द्वारा introduces a passive agent.
✅ समिति ने यह नियम बनाया।
samiti ne yah niyam banāyā.
The committee made this rule.
Letting the agent control passive agreement
❌ किताब लेखकों द्वारा लिखे गए।
Incorrect — feminine singular किताब, not plural लेखकों, controls the passive predicate.
✅ किताब लेखकों द्वारा लिखी गई।
kitāb lekhkoṃ dvārā likhī gaī.
The book was written by the authors. (formal)
Diagnostic checklist
- Is the clause passive, and is attribution itself the purpose? Choose द्वारा/के द्वारा (formal).
- Is the participant's ability, accident, affectedness, or induced performance central? Choose a licensed से construction.
- Is से really marking an instrument, source, material, or cause? Do not call it an agent.
- Is the doer intentional and discourse-prominent in ordinary conversation? Prefer an active ने clause.
- If the patient is unmarked, does the passive predicate agree with it rather than the agent phrase? If the patient retains को, is the predicate in default masculine singular?
The durable teaching distinction is perspectival: द्वारा adds an attributed agent to a patient-centered passive, whereas the safest broadly standard uses of agent-like से construe a person as the channel, constrained participant, or causee through whom the event occurs. Wider intentional-agent से belongs to particular regional, colloquial, or Urdu-influenced usage.
Key Takeaways
- Use द्वारा/के द्वारा for explicit passive attribution (formal).
- Prefer agent-like से for capacity, accident, affectedness, or a causative frame; recognize that broader intentional-agent use varies by region and register.
- Prefer active ने when an intentional doer is the conversational focus.
Related Topics
- Passive with expressed agentC1 — Express a passive actor with द्वारा, के द्वारा, से, or के हाथों while choosing an appropriate Hindi register and preserving patient agreement.
- Ability-like passive negativesC2 — Use से-marked experiencers with negative passive predicates to express that someone cannot manage, tolerate, or bring themselves to perform an action.
- Causative passivesC1 — Build passives from causative stems while keeping the causer, intermediary, affected participant, agreement, and TAM layers distinct.
- से as instrument and meansA2 — Use से for tools, body parts, transport, communication channels, methods, and selected causes while distinguishing accompaniment and agency.
- ने as perfective ergative markerA2 — Learn when perfective transitive clauses mark their agent with ने, how split ergativity differs from past tense, and which phrase controls agreement.