Lesson 10
Passive
Goal: In this lesson you will learn how to make passive sentences in Gujarati.
Read the following the sentences:
1. hve mara9I clay 2e.
‘I can walk now.’
2. rme=ne
hve brabr de`ay 2e.
‘Ramesh can see
now properly.’
3. wnaXama&
ndIAo sukay 2e.
‘In summer,
rivers dry up.’
4. Aa
gamnI kerI v`8ay 2e.
‘The mango of this village are praised.’
5. tme
`Ub 9akela j8av 2o.
‘You seem to be
tired very much.’
6. mara9I
hve gujratI va&cI =kay 2e.
‘I can read
Gujarati now.’
7. mne
rma kya&y p8 de`a; nih.
‘I did not see
Rama anywhere.’
8. mara9I
vjn w&ckI =katu& n9I.
‘I can not lift
heavy weight.’
9. Ae
2okro `Ub ho&i=yar g8ay 2e.
‘That boy is
considered to be very cleaver.’
10. mIta9I
hve do6ay 2e.
‘Mina can run now.’
Gujarati passive constructions differ
from its English counterpart in many ways. One thing that you must remember
is that Gujarati passives are not always ‘passive’. In most cases, they express
‘ability’ of the subject. Therefore, many scholars call them ‘potential constructions
or ‘abilitative’ constructions. If you read the sentences given above, you
will notice the difference easily. For example, 1 tells us that the speaker
can walk now. It implies that he/she was unable to walk and we know that.