The passive: किया जाता है

In the passive, the thing that the action happens to becomes the subject: “the hospital is being built”. Take the simple past form of the verb and add जाना (jaanaa) in any tense. Both parts agree with the subject, and there is never ने (ne).

The past form keeps its irregular shapes: किया (kiyaa), दिया (diyaa), लिया (liyaa).

The passive is common in news, notices, instructions and descriptions of customs, when it doesn't matter who does the action: होली कैसे मनाई जाती है? (Holee kaise manaaee jaatee hai?), how is Holi celebrated? कहा गया है कि … (kahaa gayaa hai ki …), it has been announced that …

In everyday conversation, people more often use an active sentence with लोग (log), people, or no subject at all: होली पर रंग लगाते हैं (Holee par rang lagaate hain), at Holi people put colour on each other.

Most passive sentences don't say who did the action. In formal news, the doer is given with द्वारा or के द्वारा (dvaaraa, ke dvaaraa), by: पुलिस द्वारा (pulis dvaaraa), by the police. In everyday Hindi, simply use an active sentence instead: पुलिस ने सड़कें बंद कीं (pulis ne sarken band keen), the police closed the roads.

With से (se) and a negative, the passive often means “can't manage to”: मुझसे इतना खाना नहीं खाया जाता (mujhse itnaa khaanaa naheen khaayaa jaataa), I can't eat that much.

When a verb has a partner for what happens by itself, Hindi usually prefers it to the passive: बिजली बनती है (bijlee bantee hai), electricity is produced, rather than बिजली बनाई जाती है (bijlee banaaee jaatee hai), which suggests that someone is making it. Compare टूटना / तोड़ना (tootnaa / tornaa) and खुलना / खोलना (khulnaa / kholnaa).

Verbs without an object can form an impersonal passive, which always stays masculine singular. It usually says what can or can't be done: यहाँ बैठा जा सकता है (yahaan baithaa jaa saktaa hai), one can sit here; मुझसे खड़ा नहीं रहा जाता (mujhse kharaa naheen rahaa jaataa), I can't stand any longer.