The pluperfect and the passive
What had happened, હું ગયો હતો, and the passive you need to recognise: અહીં ગુજરાતી બોલાય છે.
Learn
The pluperfect and the passive, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Say what had happened with હતો
Put હતો, હતી or હતું after the past: હું ગયો હતો I had gone, મેં જોયું હતું I had seen. At Foundation you need to recognise it; at Higher, use it as well.
Put two past events in order
The pluperfect shows which came first: હું પહોંચ્યો ત્યારે ફિલ્મ શરૂ થઈ ગઈ હતી when I arrived, the film had already started.
Recognise the passive made with -આ-
Adding -આ- to the stem makes the action happen to the subject: અહીં ગુજરાતી બોલાય છે Gujarati is spoken here, આ મંદિર બારમી સદીમાં બંધાયું હતું this temple was built in the twelfth century.
Recognise the passive made with -વામાં આવે છે
News and notices often use the infinitive with -માં આવવું: દિવાળી ધામધૂમથી ઊજવવામાં આવે છે Diwali is celebrated with great joy, ઇનામો આપવામાં આવ્યાં prizes were given out.
Read can and cannot in passive forms
મારાથી આ નહીં ખવાય means I cannot eat this, word for word this will not be eaten by me. અહીં ફોટા પાડી શકાય? asks can photos be taken here?
Know where the passive is tested
The specification asks you to recognise the passive in the present at Foundation, and in the future, imperfect and perfect at Higher. You will meet it in reading and listening; turn it into a natural English sentence, active if that reads better.
The pluperfect and the passive key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Pluperfect tense
- The past before another past: મેં ખાધું હતું I had eaten.
- Passive voice
- A sentence where the action happens to the subject: પત્ર લખાયો the letter was written.
- Active voice
- A sentence where the subject does the action: મેં પત્ર લખ્યો I wrote the letter.
- -વામાં આવે છે
- A common way of making the passive: ઊજવવામાં આવે છે is celebrated.
- Receptive knowledge
- Knowing a structure well enough to understand it when you read or hear it, without having to use it yourself.
Common mistakes in The pluperfect and the passive
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Reading બોલાય છે as speaks.
The -આ- makes it passive: બોલાય છે is spoken, લખાય છે is written.
A girl writing હું ગયો હતો about herself.
Both parts agree with her: હું ગઈ હતી.
Reading મારાથી as from me in મારાથી નહીં થાય.
With a passive, મારાથી says who could or could not do it: મારાથી નહીં થાય I will not be able to do it.
Practice
Try a The pluperfect and the passive question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
What does મેં એ ફિલ્મ પહેલાં જોઈ હતી, એટલે હું ઘરે રહ્યો. mean?
- I stayed at home, so I watched that film.
- I had seen that film before, so I stayed at home.
- I will see that film before I go home.
- I was watching that film at home.
Show the answer and the working
Answer: I had seen that film before, so I stayed at home.
જોઈ હતી is had seen, and એટલે is so: I had seen that film before, so I stayed at home.
- મેં એ ફિલ્મ પહેલાં જોઈ હતી: I had seen that film before.
- એટલે હું ઘરે રહ્યો: so I stayed at home.
- The pluperfect gives the earlier reason.