Formal Hindi often packages an institutional action as an event noun plus a light verb: समीक्षा करना “review,” निर्णय लेना “decide,” स्वीकृति देना “grant approval,” संज्ञान लेना “take cognizance,” and सहायता प्रदान करना “provide assistance.” The noun gives the action its technical identity; the light verb assigns participant roles and carries tense, aspect, voice, and agreement.
This nominal style is prominent in administrative, legal, academic, and journalistic prose. It is not automatically clearer or more prestigious than a simple verb. Its real value is that a named procedure—review, authorization, verification, implementation—can remain a stable discourse topic while different institutions perform, receive, complete, or fail to complete it.
Why formal prose favors event nouns
A simple verb foregrounds an action. A nominal predicate can classify the action as an official process and attach institutional modifiers to it.
विशेषज्ञों ने आँकड़ों की जाँच की।
viśeṣajñoṃ ne ā̃kaṛoṃ kī jā̃c kī.
The experts examined the data.
स्वतंत्र विशेषज्ञों ने प्रारंभिक आँकड़ों की विस्तृत जाँच की।
svatantra viśeṣajñoṃ ne prārambhik ā̃kaṛoṃ kī vistrit jā̃c kī.
Independent experts conducted a detailed examination of the preliminary data. (formal)
The second sentence can make विस्तृत जाँच a referable institutional stage: a report can describe its scope, date, findings, and authorization. English formal prose uses the same resource in phrases such as conduct an examination, but the preferred noun–verb pairings do not translate word for word.
विभाग ने सभी आवेदनों का मूल्यांकन किया।
vibhāg ne sabhī āvedanoṃ kā mūlyāṅkan kiyā.
The department evaluated all the applications. (formal)
Here मूल्यांकन करना is normal in institutional writing. In ordinary conversation, सभी फ़ॉर्म ध्यान से देखे may be lighter and more direct. Register choice concerns genre and communicative purpose, not grammatical correctness.
The light verb assigns roles
The same noun can combine with different light verbs to change viewpoint and participant structure:
| Predicate | Profiled role | Typical meaning |
|---|---|---|
| स्वीकृति देना | authority / grantor | grant approval |
| स्वीकृति लेना | applicant / recipient | obtain approval |
| स्वीकृति मिलना | approval received | receive approval |
| निर्णय लेना | decision-maker | make a decision |
| निर्णय देना | adjudicating authority | deliver a ruling |
| संज्ञान लेना | authority noticing a matter | take official cognizance |
नियामक संस्था ने परियोजना को सशर्त स्वीकृति दी।
niyāmak sansthā ne pariyojnā ko saśart svīkriti dī.
The regulatory body granted the project conditional approval. (formal)
निर्माण शुरू करने से पहले कंपनी ने स्वीकृति ले ली थी।
nirmāṇ śurū karne se pahle kampanī ne svīkriti le lī thī.
The company had obtained approval before beginning construction.
न्यायालय ने शिकायत का स्वतः संज्ञान लिया।
nyāyālay ne śikāyat kā svataḥ sañjñān liyā.
The court took cognizance of the complaint on its own motion. (formal legal)
देना, लेना, and मिलना are not decorative synonyms. They organize grantor, applicant, and received outcome differently. Likewise, legal निर्णय देना is not freely interchangeable with committee-style निर्णय लेना.
Agreement remains fully active
Heavy vocabulary does not suspend ordinary Hindi agreement. In a perfective transitive clause, the institutional actor takes ने. An unmarked nominal element can control the final verb:
समिति ने तीन प्रमुख सिफ़ारिशें कीं।
samiti ne tīn pramukh sifāriśeṃ kīṃ.
The committee made three principal recommendations. (formal)
मंत्रालय ने नए दिशानिर्देश जारी किए।
mantrālay ne nae diśānirdeś jārī kie.
The ministry issued new guidelines. (formal)
Feminine plural सिफ़ारिशें controls कीं; masculine plural दिशानिर्देश controls किए. In स्वीकृति प्रदान की, feminine स्वीकृति similarly controls की:
विश्वविद्यालय ने शोध के लिए अतिरिक्त सहायता प्रदान की।
viśvavidyālay ne śodh ke lie atirikt sahāyatā pradān kī.
The university provided additional support for the research. (formal)
English provide carries no visible gender, so learners often default to किया. Hindi instead analyzes प्रदान करना as a transitive predicate whose unmarked feminine object can control agreement. The same hierarchy introduced for noun plus करना predicates applies in dense official prose.
Aspect depends on the procedure's event structure
Process nouns allow an internal view: मामले पर विचार कर रही है or आवेदनों की समीक्षा चल रही है. Achievement-like nouns such as स्वीकृति and घोषणा more readily identify a boundary, though the activity leading to that boundary can be expressed separately.
चयन समिति अभी प्रस्ताव पर विचार कर रही है।
cayan samiti abhī prastāv par vicār kar rahī hai.
The selection committee is currently considering the proposal. (formal)
चयन समिति ने प्रस्ताव स्वीकार करने का निर्णय लिया।
cayan samiti ne prastāv svīkār karne kā nirṇay liyā.
The selection committee decided to accept the proposal. (formal)
The progressive opens the deliberative process; perfective निर्णय लिया marks its outcome. A progressive निर्णय ले रही है is possible when the committee is actively arriving at a decision, but it does not mean that a completed decision already exists.
Formal passive prose often backgrounds the actor:
प्रत्येक आवेदन की दो चरणों में समीक्षा की गई।
pratyek āvedan kī do caraṇoṃ meṃ samīkṣā kī gaī.
Each application was reviewed in two stages. (formal passive)
The passive retains the nominal predicate समीक्षा करना. Feminine समीक्षा controls की गई; प्रत्येक आवेदन की is its genitive complement, not the agreement controller.
Simple predicate versus added vector
Official style often prefers a neutral simple predicate when only occurrence matters. An added vector is justified when it profiles a completed, released, secured, or maintained result.
समिति ने मसौदे पर विचार किया।
samiti ne masaude par vicār kiyā.
The committee considered the draft. (formal, neutral report)
समिति ने सभी आपत्तियों पर विचार कर लिया है।
samiti ne sabhī āpattiyoṃ par vicār kar liyā hai.
The committee has now completed its consideration of all objections. (formal, completion salient)
The second does not mean that the committee literally “took” consideration. लेना closes the deliberative task and presents its result as secured.
विभाग ने संशोधित निर्देश जारी कर दिए।
vibhāg ne saṃśodhit nirdeś jārī kar die.
The department went ahead and issued the revised instructions. (completed release)
Compared with neutral निर्देश जारी किए, जारी कर दिए foregrounds outward release and completion. In a restrained report this nuance may be unnecessary; in a deadline update it may be exactly the point. The vector's dictionary meaning is not an adequate translation.
Negation and institutional scope
Plain नहीं किया/दिया/लिया neutrally denies an official action. A retained vector can deny a particular endpoint.
प्राधिकरण ने अभी अंतिम स्वीकृति नहीं दी है।
prādhikaraṇ ne abhī antim svīkriti nahīṃ dī hai.
The authority has not yet granted final approval. (formal)
समिति ने प्रस्ताव अस्वीकार नहीं किया; उसने निर्णय स्थगित किया है।
samiti ne prastāv asvīkār nahīṃ kiyā; usne nirṇay sthagit kiyā hai.
The committee did not reject the proposal; it has deferred the decision. (formal)
These clauses distinguish nonapproval, rejection, and deferral. Bureaucratic nouns can sharpen legal scope, but they can also conceal agency. If responsibility matters, name the actor rather than relying on an agentless passive such as त्रुटि की गई.
Word order and nominal density
Complements normally precede the noun–verb predicate: मामले का संज्ञान लेना, प्रस्ताव पर विचार करना, योजना को स्वीकृति देना. English order does not license placing the complement after an already completed predicate.
Formal Hindi also permits long noun phrases, but excessive nesting harms readability. विभाग द्वारा योजना के कार्यान्वयन की प्रगति की समीक्षा is grammatical, yet two clauses may communicate the relationships more clearly. Nominal style should compress known institutional structure, not force the reader to reconstruct several hidden actors.
A meeting dialogue: official wording and speaker stance
क्या समिति ने संशोधित प्रस्ताव पर निर्णय ले लिया है?
kyā samiti ne saṃśodhit prastāv par nirṇay le liyā hai?
Has the committee reached a decision on the revised proposal? (formal meeting)
अभी नहीं; विधिक सलाह मिलने के बाद अंतिम निर्णय लिया जाएगा।
abhī nahīṃ; vidhik salāh milne ke bād antim nirṇay liyā jāegā.
Not yet; the final decision will be taken after legal advice is received. (formal)
तब कार्यवृत्त में यह स्पष्ट उल्लेख कर दीजिए कि प्रस्ताव अस्वीकार नहीं हुआ है।
tab kāryavritt meṃ yah spaṣṭ ullekh kar dījie ki prastāv asvīkār nahīṃ huā hai.
Then please state clearly in the minutes that the proposal has not been rejected. (formal, respectful)
ले लिया asks whether the endpoint has already been reached. The passive लिया जाएगा backgrounds the future decision-maker because the committee is established in context. Respectful कर दीजिए requests a completed insertion into the record; its vector profiles the resulting availability of the clarification.
Common Mistakes
1. Translating both elements literally
❌ न्यायालय ने शिकायत का ज्ञान उठाया।
Incorrect — English 'take cognizance' does not license literal ज्ञान उठाना.
✅ न्यायालय ने शिकायत का संज्ञान लिया।
nyāyālay ne śikāyat kā sañjñān liyā.
The court took cognizance of the complaint. (formal legal)
2. Choosing a light verb with the wrong institutional role
❌ आवेदक ने विभाग को स्वीकृति दी।
Wrong for 'the applicant obtained departmental approval'—देना makes the applicant the grantor.
✅ आवेदक ने विभाग से स्वीकृति ली।
āvedak ne vibhāg se svīkriti lī.
The applicant obtained approval from the department.
3. Losing feminine agreement
❌ समिति ने विस्तृत समीक्षा किया।
Incorrect — feminine समीक्षा controls की.
✅ समिति ने दस्तावेज़ों की विस्तृत समीक्षा की।
samiti ne dastāvezoṃ kī vistrit samīkṣā kī.
The committee carried out a detailed review of the documents. (formal)
4. Adding an unmotivated vector
❌ रिपोर्ट में सामान्य प्रक्रिया का उल्लेख कर डाला गया।
Inappropriate in a neutral report — डालना adds forceful or evaluative completion.
✅ रिपोर्ट में सामान्य प्रक्रिया का उल्लेख किया गया।
riporṭ meṃ sāmānya prakriyā kā ullekh kiyā gayā.
The standard procedure was mentioned in the report. (formal, neutral)
5. Copying English complement order
❌ विभाग ने समीक्षा की सभी आवेदनों की।
Incorrect neutral formal order — the genitive complement belongs before समीक्षा.
✅ विभाग ने सभी आवेदनों की समीक्षा की।
vibhāg ne sabhī āvedanoṃ kī samīkṣā kī.
The department reviewed all the applications. (formal)
Key Takeaways
- Formal nominal predicates classify actions as procedures and make those procedures available as discourse topics.
- The light verb assigns roles: स्वीकृति देना, लेना, and मिलना present different participants and are not interchangeable.
- Ordinary Hindi case and agreement remain active inside dense formal prose.
- Aspect distinguishes an ongoing institutional process from its completed decision or authorization.
- Add a vector only when its boundedness, direction, affectedness, or evaluation contributes to the intended report.
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