In English, we have active and passive voice. In Gujarati also we have this concept. But in English passive is used as frequently as active voice; even in day-to-day communication.
In Gujarati passive voice is used quite less in colloquial communication. It is more used in formal communication or written communication like newspaper, magazine, etc.

Passive voice is generally used when doer of action is unknown or not important or something very general (e.g. all people )

Rule 1) In passive voice in Gujarati we first add આ(A) to verb stem before creating its form

to write -> લખવું (lakhavuM ) in the active voice. Stem is લખ(lakh)
લખ(lakh) + આ(A) = લખા (lakhA )
So verb in passive voice is લખાવું (lakhAvuM )

Similarly
To do -> કરવું (karavuM) in active voice, કરાવું(karAvuM) in passive voice
To drag -> ખેંચવું (kheMchavuM) in active voice, ખેંચાવું(kheMchAvuM) in the passive voice

Rule 2) If the stem of verb contains આ(A) or આં(Am) this is shortened to અ(a) before appending આ(A) to make it passive

To use-> વાપરવું (vAparavuM) in active voice. Stem is વાપર (vApar)
So વાપર (vApar) is changed to વપર(vapar) and then added આ(A) to make it વપરા(vaparA)
So final verb is વપરાવું (vaparAvuM)

Similarly
To give -> આપવું (ApavuM) in active voice. અપાવું(apAvuM) in passive voice
To read -> વાંચવું(vAMchavuM) in active voice. વંચાવું(vMchAvuM) in passive voice
etc.

Rule 3) If stem of the verb ends in vowel, then instead of આ(A) we add વા(vA) to make it stem in passive voice.

e.g.
To see -> જોવું(jovuM) in active voice. So stem is જો(jo)
જો(jo) + વા(vA) -> જોવા (jovA) so full verb is જોવાવું (jovAvuM)

To drink -> પીવું(pIvuM) in active voice, and પીવાવું(pIvAvuM) in passive voice.

Rule 4) Combining Rule 3 & 2

To eat -> ખાવું(khAvuM) in active voice and ખવાવું(khavAvuM) in the passive voice.
To sing -> ગાવું (gAvuM) in active voice and ગવાવું(gavAvuM) in the passive voice.

Examples:-

Once you know the stem, you can create sentences using rules of tenses seen in previous lessons. Form of verb will be created as per gender and multiplicity of the noun in the required tense.

Election will be organized -> ચૂંટણી યોજાશે (chUMTaNI yojAshe )
(In simple future tense suffix is “શે”. so verb form became “યોજાશે” )

Special status was given to him -> એને વિશેષ દરજ્જો અપાયો (ene visheSh darajjo apAyo)
(“દરજ્જો ” is masculine singular. In simple past tense suffix for masculine singular is “યો”. So verb form became “અપાયો”)

Black market is done -> કાળાબજાર કરાય છે (kALAbajAr karAy Che)
(In simple present tense suffix for masculine singular is ય(y) as stem ends with આ(A). So verb form became કરાય(karAy) )

Rule 5) When subject i.e. doer of the action is to be mentioned, word

Here farming is done by blind people -> અહિં અંધજનો દ્વારા ખેતી કરાય છે (ahiM aMdhajano dvArA khetI karAy Che )
The demand letter was given by union -> યુનિયન દ્વારા આવેદન પત્ર અપાયું (yuniyan dvArA Avedan patr apAyuM)

Consider “દ્વારા” as the preposition “-ના દ્વારા”(nA dvArA ) so that you can use required form of pronoun before using it.
Protection was given by me -> મારા દ્વારા સંરક્ષણ અપાયું (mArA dvArA saMrakShaN apAyuM)
Protection was given by you -> તારા દ્વારા સંરક્ષણ અપાયું (tArA dvArA saMrakShaN apAyuM)

For pronouns or proper names we can use “-ના થી” instead of “-ના દ્વારા”(nA dvArA )
Protection was given by me -> મારાથી સંરક્ષણ અપાયું (mArAthI saMrakShaN apAyuM)
The song was sung by Kaushik -> કૌશિકથી ગીત ગવાયું (kaushikathI gIt gavAyuM)

In Gujarati, generally passive voice is used when the object is a non-living thing. “I was given the book”, “He was given advice” are very common sentences in English. But In Gujarati, we do not use passive voice for “I”, “We”, “You”, “He”, “She” etc.
So when translating such sentences from English to Gujarati, first convert into active voice and then translate.

He was given advice -> Advice was given to him -> તેને ઉપદેશ આપવામાં આવ્યો (tene upadesh ApavAmAM Avyo )
A meeting will be organized -> સભા યોજવામાં આવશે (sabhA yojavAmAM Avashe)
She was felicitated by government -> તે સરકાર દ્વારા સન્માનિત કરવામાં આવી
(te sarakAr dvArA sanmAnit karavAmAM AvI)

(Note “To felicitate” -> સન્માનિત કરવું (sanmAnit karavuM) , Government -> સરકાર (sarakAr ))

Players were selected by committee -> સમિતિ દ્વારા ખેલાડીઓ ચૂંટવામાં આવ્યા (samiti dvArA khelADIo chUMTavAmAM AvyA)

Interesting use of passive voice to indicate ability or disability

“I can sing” can be said in Gujarati as મારાથી ગવાય છે (mArAthI gavAy Che)
Doer of action is “I”, so passive sentence form is “મારાથી(mArAthI )
ગવાય છે (gavAy Che) is passive sentence form in simple present tense.

So for other pronouns sentences will be
You can sing -> તારાથી ગવાય છે (tArAthI gavAy Che)
He can sing -> એનાથી ગવાય છે (enAthI gavAy Che)

Similarly in past tense it will be :-
You could dance -> તારાથી નચાયું(tArAthI nachAyuM)
He could dance -> એનાથી નચાયું(enAthI nachAyuM)
I could dance -> મારાથી નચાયું(mArAthI nachAyuM)

Future tense
She will be able to go -> એનાથી જવાશે (enAthI javAshe)
You will be able to give-> તારાથી અપાશે (tArAthI apAshe)

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