Passive with Modal-like Verbs: devoir être fait
सहायक-सदृश क्रियाओं के साथ कर्मवाच्य: devoir être fait
Hindi builds a passive obligation the same layered way French does — a fixed obligation word at the end, a passive marker just before it, and a past participle before that. The one place the two languages diverge: French freezes être so it never changes shape, while Hindi's own passive marker, जाना, actually changes for gender and number, one extra agreement step French doesn't ask for.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
devoir/pouvoir (conjugated) + être (infinitive) + past participle — Hindi's जाना also stays fixed in position, but changes shape for gender
Le travail doit être fait avant demain. (The work must be done before tomorrow)
काम कल से पहले किया जाना चाहिए।
Hindi builds this the same layered way: चाहिए ('must') sits fixed at the end, जाना ('to be', the passive marker) comes right before it, and किया (the past participle of करना, 'to do') comes before that — काम किया जाना चाहिए. French stacks its pieces in the same order: devoir (conjugated) + être (infinitive) + past participle. The one place French and Hindi diverge: French's être never changes shape here, staying être no matter the subject's gender, while Hindi's जाना does change — it becomes जानी for a feminine subject, जाने for plural. So where French freezes être and lets only the participle carry agreement, Hindi lets both the participle and जाना agree, one more agreement step than French asks of you.
The participle agrees with the subject, not with devoir/pouvoir — matching Hindi's own participle agreement
La lettre doit être envoyée aujourd'hui. (The letter must be sent today — envoyée, feminine, agrees with la lettre)
पत्री आज भेजी जानी चाहिए।
Because être — not devoir — is the actual passive auxiliary here, the agreement rule from any ordinary être-passive still applies: match the participle to the grammatical subject (une lettre → envoyée, feminine). Hindi already has a comparable instinct built in — भेजी (feminine, from भेजना) agrees with पत्री (feminine) here, exactly as you'd already expect from Hindi's own passive constructions. The one thing to add on top of that existing instinct: French freezes être itself regardless of gender, even though Hindi's own जाना does not stay frozen the same way.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
- Hindi
- किया जाना चाहिएkiyā jānā cāhie
- English
- must be done
- Hindi
- हल किया जा सकता हैhal kiyā jā saktā hai
- English
- can be solved
- Hindi
- भेजा जाना चाहिएbhejā jānā cāhie
- English
- must be sent
- Hindi
- किया जा सकता हैkiyā jā saktā hai
- English
- can be done
- Hindi
- ख़त्म किया जाना चाहिएkhatm kiyā jānā cāhie
- English
- must be finished
- Hindi
- भुलाया नहीं जाना चाहिएbhulāyā nahīñ jānā cāhie
- English
- must not be forgotten
- Hindi
- बदला जा सकता हैbadlā jā saktā hai
- English
- can be changed
- Hindi
- जाँचा जाना चाहिएjāñcā jānā cāhie
- English
- should be checked