Nepali
Passive Voice
The passive voice is oftentimes used when talking about historical events, or when speaking more generally where there is not a clear subject performing an action. A very clear distinction of how passive voice (past and present tense) differs from active voice is given below.
Present Tense
Active Voice
| Positive |
Negative |
| म भात खान्छु (I eat rice) | म भात खादिन (I do not eat rice) |
Passive Voice
| Positive | Negative |
| मबाट भात खाइनछ (The rice is eaten by me) | मबाट भात खाइदैन (The rice is not eaten by me) |
Past Tense
Active Voice
| Positive | Negative |
| मैले खाना खाएँ (I ate food) | मैले खाना खाइन (I did not eat food) |
Passive Voice
| Positive | Negative |
| मबाट खाना खाइयो (The food was eaten by me) | मबाट खाना खाइएन (The food was not eaten by me) |
Thus, here is the general form that the passive voice uses:
PASSIVE PRESENT TENSE
VS + -इन्छ / -इदैन
(positive/negative)
PASSIVE PAST TENSE
VS + -इयो / – इएन
(positive/negative)
**Verb Stem is represented by the shorthand acronym VS.**
Obviously, these examples used are not necessarily how many people would speak using the passive voice. Instead, we find that the passive voice is used when talking about historical events or when there is not a clear subject identified. Here is a more complex sentence as an example.
राना राज्य समयामा नेपाली जनतालाइ सिक्षा दिनिएन
During the Rana regime, the Nepali public was not educated (or, was not given an education).
Here, there is no specific subject that is performing the action of depriving the people of education in this sentence. So, the passive voice form is used.
Practice
Here is an exercise to practice when you should use the passive and active voice. Challenge yourself by not looking at your notes! Read the entire sentence(s) to gain contextual evidence to arrive at your answer.
