In a canonical Hindi passive, the patient becomes the unmarked grammatical subject and controls agreement: पत्र लिखा गया, चिट्ठी लिखी गई, पत्र लिखे गए, चिट्ठियाँ लिखी गईं. The semantic actor does not control the verb, even when it is explicitly named. This differs sharply from active perfective clauses with ने, and it is one of the strongest reasons to analyze the passive patient as the syntactic subject.
Review the form-building process on passive stem plus -आ जाना. Here the central question is: which noun supplies the gender and number features?
The unmarked patient controls the chain
The lexical participle, the inflected form of जाना, and the auxiliary all reflect the passive subject where their paradigms show agreement. Feminine plural uses -ई on the lexical participle and जाती/गई, while plurality appears clearly in the auxiliary हैं/थीं and, in the perfective past, गईं.
| Patient | Habitual present | Perfective past |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular: पत्र | पत्र लिखा जाता है | पत्र लिखा गया |
| feminine singular: चिट्ठी | चिट्ठी लिखी जाती है | चिट्ठी लिखी गई |
| masculine plural: पत्र | पत्र लिखे जाते हैं | पत्र लिखे गए |
| feminine plural: चिट्ठियाँ | चिट्ठियाँ लिखी जाती हैं | चिट्ठियाँ लिखी गईं |
समझौता दोनों पक्षों की सहमति से लिखा गया।
samjhautā donoṃ pakṣoṃ kī sahmati se likhā gayā.
The agreement was written with the consent of both parties.
नई नीति पिछले महीने घोषित की गई।
naī nīti pichle mahīne ghoṣit kī gaī.
The new policy was announced last month.
अंतिम नतीजे वेबसाइट पर डाले गए।
antim natīje vebsāiṭ par ḍāle gae.
The final results were posted on the website.
सभी कुर्सियाँ बाहर रखी गईं।
sabhī kursiyā̃ bāhar rakhī gaīṃ.
All the chairs were put outside.
The masculine plural लिखे गए shows plural agreement twice. Feminine plural is less visually transparent in the habitual (लिखी जाती हैं) because feminine -ई does not distinguish singular from plural; the auxiliary does. In the perfective, standard written Hindi marks feminine plural गईं, pronounced here as gaī̃.
The expressed agent never becomes the controller
An optional actor introduced by द्वारा, के द्वारा, से, or के हाथों is postpositional and cannot control ordinary subject agreement. Its gender and number are irrelevant to the passive verb.
यह प्रस्ताव कई विशेषज्ञों द्वारा तैयार किया गया है।
yah prastāv kaī viśeṣagyoṃ dvārā taiyār kiyā gayā hai.
This proposal has been prepared by several experts. (formal)
यह रिपोर्ट कई विशेषज्ञों द्वारा तैयार की गई है।
yah riporṭ kaī viśeṣagyoṃ dvārā taiyār kī gaī hai.
This report has been prepared by several experts. (formal)
Only प्रस्ताव versus रिपोर्ट changes, so the passive alternates between masculine किया गया and feminine की गई. The same plural experts remain the actor in both sentences.
English past participles do not visibly agree, so English speakers may unconsciously match Hindi with the nearest human noun. Hindi instead follows case marking: a noun inside a postpositional phrase is blocked as a normal agreement controller.
A को-marked patient triggers default agreement
A specific human patient often retains को in the passive: रीना को बुलाया गया “Reena was called.” Once रीना is marked with को, it no longer controls the verb. With no other eligible nominative controller, Hindi uses default masculine singular बुलाया गया.
रीना को मंच पर बुलाया गया।
rīnā ko mañc par bulāyā gayā.
Reena was called onto the stage.
दोनों खिलाड़ियों को सम्मानित किया गया।
donoṃ khilāṛiyoṃ ko sammānit kiyā gayā.
Both players were honored.
क्या घायल महिला को अस्पताल ले जाया गया था?
kyā ghāyal mahilā ko aspatāl le jāyā gayā thā?
Had the injured woman been taken to the hospital?
Neither feminine रीना/महिला nor plural खिलाड़ियों produces feminine or plural agreement. This default is not a statement about the person’s natural gender; it is the grammar used when no unmarked controller is available.
Sometimes Hindi can recast the same participant as an unmarked subject: रीना बुलाई गई. That version permits feminine agreement and presents Reena straightforwardly as the passive subject. The choice to retain को depends on animacy, specificity, the verb, and information structure; it is not safe to delete को mechanically from every active clause.
Agreement through aspect and polarity
Changing tense or polarity does not change the controller. It changes which layer carries the tense and aspect. Compare feminine जाती, जा रही, and गई, all selected by फीस.
फीस हर महीने ऑनलाइन जमा की जाती है।
fīs har mahīne onlāin jamā kī jātī hai.
The fee is deposited online every month.
फीस अभी जमा की जा रही है।
fīs abhī jamā kī jā rahī hai.
The fee is being deposited now.
फीस अब तक जमा नहीं की गई है।
fīs ab tak jamā nahīṃ kī gaī hai.
The fee has not been deposited yet.
क्या सारी फीस समय पर जमा की गई थी?
kyā sārī fīs samay par jamā kī gaī thī?
Had the entire fee been deposited on time?
With coordinated passive subjects, ordinary agreement resolution applies: all-feminine plural subjects take feminine plural, while a mixed-gender coordination normally takes masculine plural.
मेज़ और कुर्सियाँ बाहर रखी गईं।
mez aur kursiyā̃ bāhar rakhī gaīṃ.
The table and chairs were put outside.
मेज़ और सोफ़ा बाहर रखे गए।
mez aur sofā bāhar rakhe gae.
The table and sofa were put outside.
Agreement inside a layered predicate
Hindi passives show why a verb is better understood as a stack than as a one-word tense. In फाइल भेज दी गई, भेज names the action, दी adds the completive/outward vector meaning of देना, and गई passivizes the compound event. The agreeing pieces follow feminine फाइल.
ज़रूरी फाइलें सभी विभागों को भेज दी गईं।
zarūrī fāileṃ sabhī vibhāgoṃ ko bhej dī gaīṃ.
The necessary files were sent out to all the departments.
रास्ते की सारी रुकावटें हटा दी गई हैं।
rāste kī sārī rukāvaṭeṃ haṭā dī gaī haiṃ.
All the obstacles on the route have been removed.
The lexical converb भेज/हटा is invariant, but the vector participle and passive carrier agree. English “were sent/removed” hides these internal layers.
Common Mistakes
Agreeing with the semantic actor
❌ रिपोर्ट कर्मचारियों द्वारा तैयार किए गए।
Incorrect — plural कर्मचारियों is inside an agent phrase and does not control agreement.
✅ रिपोर्ट कर्मचारियों द्वारा तैयार की गई।
riporṭ karmacāriyoṃ dvārā taiyār kī gaī.
The report was prepared by the employees. (formal)
Missing feminine agreement on the patient
❌ नई योजना मंज़ूर किया गया।
Incorrect — योजना is feminine singular.
✅ नई योजना मंज़ूर की गई।
naī yojnā manzūr kī gaī.
The new plan was approved.
Treating a feminine plural as singular in the auxiliary
❌ सभी खिड़कियाँ बंद की जाती है।
Incorrect — the plural subject requires हैं.
✅ सभी खिड़कियाँ बंद की जाती हैं।
sabhī khiṛkiyā̃ band kī jātī haiṃ.
All the windows are closed.
Agreeing with a को-marked patient
❌ सीमा को बैठक में बुलाई गई।
Incorrect in this को-marked construction — default masculine singular is required.
✅ सीमा को बैठक में बुलाया गया।
sīmā ko baiṭhak meṃ bulāyā gayā.
Seema was called into the meeting.
Changing only one agreeing layer
❌ चिट्ठियाँ भेजे गईं।
Incorrect — both agreeing participles must be feminine.
✅ चिट्ठियाँ भेजी गईं।
ciṭṭhiyā̃ bhejī gaīṃ.
The letters were sent.
Key Takeaways
An unmarked passive patient controls the agreeing chain. An expressed actor never does, and a को-marked patient is ineligible, causing default masculine singular agreement. Read the predicate by layers and check every agreeing component rather than changing only the final auxiliary.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Passive stem plus -ā जानाB1 — Build the Hindi passive from an agreeing lexical participle and जाना, including regular forms, common irregular bases, and polarity.
- Passive across aspect and tenseB2 — Combine the Hindi passive with habitual, progressive, perfective, future, subjunctive, and modal layers without copying English tense forms.
- 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.
- Agreement with unmarked subjectsA2 — Form Hindi agreement with ordinary unmarked subjects across gender, number, aspect, honorificity, and coordination.
- Agreement with को-marked objectsA2 — Understand why a Hindi object marked with को cannot control agreement and how the remaining clause structure selects subject agreement or default form.
- Default masculine singular agreementA2 — Recognize masculine singular as Hindi’s fallback agreement when case marking or clause type leaves the predicate without an eligible controller.