से ... नहीं ... जाता

Being Unable to Do Something

Level 4Sounds Like sē ... nahīṁ ... jātā

से with a negative passive says someone just can't do something, or can't bear to.

How It Works

This pattern turns an action around. Instead of I can't eat it, Hindi says, roughly, it doesn't get eaten by me. The person who can't takes से: मुझसे, तुमसे, उससे, आपसे.

  • मुझसे इतना तीखा खाना नहीं खाया जाता. I just can't eat food this spicy.
  • उससे अपनी हँसी रोकी नहीं गई. She couldn't hold back her laughter.

The verb is the passive: the past form of the main verb plus जाना. It agrees with the thing acted on, so feminine हँसी gives रोकी गई. With verbs that take no object, such as चलना or सोना, use the masculine singular: मुझसे अब चला नहीं जाता.

It is almost always negative. It suggests that something inside you stops you, such as pain, tiredness, sadness or disgust, more than a lack of skill. For plain ability, use सकना: मैं यह नहीं खा सकता.

A short version with होना is very common: मुझसे यह नहीं होगा (I can't do this).

Examples (5)

  1. मुझसे इतना भारी बैग उठाया नहीं जाता।

    I can't lift such a heavy bag.

    मुझसे marks the person; उठाया जाता agrees with masculine बैग.

  2. थकान के कारण मुझसे अब चला नहीं जाता।

    I'm so tired I can't walk any farther.

    चलना takes no object, so the verb is masculine singular.

  3. उससे यह दुखभरी कहानी पढ़ी नहीं जाती।

    She can't bring herself to read this sad story.

    पढ़ी जाती agrees with feminine कहानी; the obstacle is sadness.

  4. उससे अपनी हँसी रोकी नहीं गई।

    She couldn't hold back her laughter.

    In the past, जाता becomes गया or गई.

  5. बच्चे का रोना मुझसे देखा नहीं जाता।

    I can't bear to watch the child cry.

    रोना is the child’s crying, an action used as a noun; watching it is what the speaker cannot bear.

Common Mistakes

  • Using मैं instead of मुझसे.

    मैं यह खाना नहीं खाया जाता।
    मुझसे यह खाना नहीं खाया जाता।

    In this pattern the person takes से. With मैं, use सकना: मैं यह खाना नहीं खा सकता.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

से ... नहीं ... जाताLevel 4Being Unable to Do Something

Learn This First

Inability uses a negative passive with the person in the से form.

Words in This Pattern

सेजाना