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Mandarin Chinese 2 Unit 8: The 被 Passive

被 sentences put the receiver of an action first: 我的自行车被偷了 (My bike was stolen). They are often used for unwanted events, and they mirror the structure of 把 sentences.

Covers: Basic 被 word order, Omitting the doer, Unfortunate and unexpected events, 叫 and 让 in casual speech, Negatives and adverbs with 被, Passive meaning without 被, Converting between 把 and 被

Study guide

The 被 passive puts the thing or person affected by an action at the start of the sentence: Receiver + 被 + (Doer) + Verb + Other element. 我的手机被弟弟弄坏了 means "My phone was broken by my little brother." The doer can be left out when it is unknown or unimportant: 我的钱包被偷了 (My wallet was stolen). Like 把, the verb in a 被 sentence usually cannot stand alone. It needs 了, a complement, or another phrase: 被打破了, 被拿走了, 被送到医院. A bare verb, as in 他被批评, sounds incomplete in most everyday contexts.

Traditionally, 被 is used for events that are unpleasant or unexpected for the receiver: being stolen, criticized, broken, caught in the rain (被雨淋湿了) or laughed at (被别人笑话). In modern Chinese, especially in writing and news, 被 is also used for neutral or positive events, such as 他被选为班长 (He was chosen as class monitor). Still, for most second-year test sentences, 被 signals something happened to someone, often against their wishes. For ordinary neutral events Chinese usually avoids 被 and uses an active sentence instead.

In casual speech, 叫 and 让 can replace 被, but only when the doer is stated: 我的自行车叫人偷了, 蛋糕让孩子吃了. You cannot say 蛋糕让吃了 without a doer. Negative words, modal verbs and time words go before 被, never between 被 and the verb: 我的车没被撞坏 (My car wasn't damaged), 这件事不能被他知道, 我昨天被老师批评了. Adverbs such as 已经, 又 and 差点儿 also come before 被: 那本书已经被借走了 (That book has already been checked out), 他又被老师叫到办公室去了 (He was called to the office by the teacher again). A good test is to find the verb: everything that describes when, whether or how likely the event is goes in front of 被, and only the doer goes between 被 and the verb. This is the same rule you learned for 把, where 没, 别 and 能 also come before 把.

Chinese also has a notional passive with no 被 at all. When the receiver is a thing and the meaning is clear, Chinese simply puts it first: 饭做好了 (The meal is ready), 作业写完了 (The homework is done), 票卖完了 (The tickets are sold out). These sentences are more common than 被 sentences for neutral results. Finally, 把 and 被 sentences are mirrors: 弟弟把我的手机弄坏了 (active, focus on what the brother did) and 我的手机被弟弟弄坏了 (passive, focus on what happened to the phone). Both need a specific object or receiver and an element after the verb.

Key ideas

• 被 sentences put the receiver of the action first: Receiver + 被 + (Doer) + Verb + Other.
• The doer can be omitted after 被, but not after 叫 or 让.
• 被 traditionally marks unpleasant or unexpected events for the receiver.
• The verb usually needs 了, a complement or another element after it.
• Negatives, modals, time words and adverbs go before 被.
• Thing-first sentences without 被 (饭做好了) are a common neutral passive.
• 把 sentences focus on the doer; 被 sentences focus on the receiver.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Using 叫 or 让 as passive markers without naming the doer.
• Putting 没 between 被 and the verb (被没偷).
• Ending a 被 sentence with a bare verb (钱包被偷).
• Using 被 for ordinary neutral results where Chinese prefers a thing-first sentence (饭被做好了).
• Swapping receiver and doer when converting from 把 to 被.

Before the test, make sure you can

• Form 被 sentences with and without the doer.
• Add the required element after the verb.
• Use 叫 and 让 correctly in casual passives.
• Place 没, 不, 能 and 已经 before 被.
• Convert between 把 and 被 sentences without swapping roles.
• Choose a thing-first sentence instead of 被 for neutral results.
• Explain why 被 often suggests misfortune.

Words to know

偷

to steal (tōu)

批评

to criticize (pīpíng)

撞

to crash into (zhuàng)

咬

to bite (yǎo)

淋湿

to get soaked (línshī)

笑话

to laugh at (xiàohua)

弄坏

to break, damage (nònghuài)

打破

to break, shatter (dǎpò)

拿走

to take away (názǒu)

借走

to borrow and take away (jièzǒu)

吹倒

to blow over (chuīdǎo)

被

by (passive marker) (bèi)

叫

by (casual passive) (jiào)

让

by (casual passive) (ràng)

发现

to discover (fāxiàn)

选

to choose, elect (xuǎn)

自行车

bicycle (zìxíngchē)

杯子

cup (bēizi)

蛋糕

cake (dàngāo)

护照

passport (hùzhào)

风

wind (fēng)

Sample practice questions

30 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.