The passive sentence in Chinese 1

Grammar Point:
The passive sentence in Chinese is called 被字句 bèizìjù. It is used to construct passive structures and can introduce either the doer of the action or the action itself. In spoken Chinese, the verbs 叫 jiào and 讓让 ràng can be used as substitutes for 被 bèi. All of these sentences are considered passive sentences.

What is Passive Sentence

The passive sentence is formed when the subject of a sentence is the receiver of the action described by the verb. It is the opposite of an active sentence, where the subject performs the action. For example:

When to Use Passive Sentences

1. When you want to indicate that someone has been negatively affected or the result is unexpected.

包包bāobāo被bèi小偷xiǎotōu偷tōu走zǒu了le包包bāobāo被bèi小偷xiǎotōu偷tōu走zǒu了le
The bag was stolen by a thief.

沒想到méixiǎngdào我wǒ被bèi老師lǎoshī誇獎kuājiǎng了le没想到méixiǎngdào我wǒ被bèi老师lǎoshī夸奖kuājiǎng了le
I didn’t expect to be complimented by my teacher.

2. When you want to avoid mentioning the “doer” of the action. (HSK 4)

包包bāobāo被bèi偷tōu走zǒu了le包包bāobāo被bèi偷tōu走zǒu了le
The bag was stolen.

Difference Between 被, 叫, 讓/让

1. Only 被 bèi indicates a negative effect, while 叫 jiào and 讓让 ràng simply indicate passive voice (although it is still possible for the passive action to have a negative connotation).
   
2. In a sentence using 被 bèi, if the doer is not necessary to identify, the object following 被 bèi can be omitted. However, the object after 叫 jiào or 讓让 ràng cannot be omitted.
   
3. 被 bèi is considered a more formal form, while 叫 jiào and 讓让 ràng are more casual.
   
4. In Taiwan, it is uncommon to use 叫 jiào and 讓让 ràng in a passive sentence.

Structure

S + 被, 叫, 讓/让+ O + V + Something

This “something” is crucial and can take different forms. It can serve as a complement, an additional object, or simply be the particle 了 le.

他tā被bèi女朋友nǚpéngyǒu甩shuǎi了le他tā被bèi女朋友nǚpéngyou甩shuǎi了le
He was dumped by his girlfriend.

我的wǒde詞典cídiǎn叫jiào弟弟dìdi弄nòng髒zāng了le我的wǒde词典cídiǎn叫jiào弟弟dìdi弄nòng脏zāng了le
My dictionary got dirty by my brother.

我wǒ叫jiào大dà公司gōngsī錄取lùqǔ了le！ 我wǒ叫jiào大dà公司gōngsī录取lùqǔ了le！
I was hired by a big company!

我的wǒde人生rénshēng讓ràng你nǐ毀huǐ了le！ 我的wǒde人生rénshēng让ràng你nǐ毁huǐ了le！
My life is ruined by you!

妹妹mèimei讓ràng老師lǎoshī罵mà了le妹妹mèimei让ràng老师lǎoshī骂mà了le
My sister was scolded by the teacher.

你的nǐde頭髮tóufǎ是shì被bèi狗gǒu啃kěn了le嗎ma？ 你的nǐde头发tóufa是shì被bèi狗gǒu啃kěn了le吗ma？
Did a dog chew on your hair?
(It implies that your hairstyle looks messy or unkempt as if a dog had chewed on it.)

Negation and Adverbs

You should always place negation words and adverbs in front of 被 bèi, 叫 jiào, 讓让 ràng in Chinese sentences.

那個nàge手機shǒujī沒méi被bèi我wǒ弄nòng壞huài那个nàge手机shǒujī没méi被bèi我wǒ弄nòng坏huài
I didn’t break the phone. (unexpected)

他tā完全wánquán讓ràng那nà小姐xiǎojiě迷住mízhù了le他tā完全wánquán让ràng那nà姑娘gūniáng迷住mízhù了le
He was completely enchanted by the girl.

我的wǒde錢包qiánbāo又yòu被bèi人rén偷tōu了le我的wǒde钱包qiánbāo又yòu被bèi人rén偷tōu了le
My wallet was stolen again.

Questions

You cannot form a question using 被不被 bèibúbèi. However, you can use question particles like 嗎吗 ma, question words, or 是不是 shìbúshì to form questions.

妹妹mèimei被bèi老師lǎoshī罵mà了le嗎ma？ 妹妹mèimei被bèi老师lǎoshī骂mà了le吗ma？ ✅
Was my sister scolded by the teacher?

妹妹mèimei是不是shìbúshì被bèi老師lǎoshī罵mà了le？ 妹妹mèimei是不是shìbúshì被bèi老师lǎoshī骂mà了le？ ✅
Was my sister scolded by the teacher?

妹妹mèimei被bèi誰shéi罵mà了le？ 妹妹mèimei被bèi谁shéi骂mà了le？ ✅
My sister was scolded by whom？

妹妹mèimei被不被bèibúbèi老師lǎoshī罵mà了le？ 妹妹mèimei被不被bèibúbèi老师lǎoshī骂mà了le？ ❌
Was my sister scolded by the teacher?

Common Mistakes

我的wǒde蛋糕dàngāo吃chī完wán了le被bèi妹妹mèimei我的wǒde蛋糕dàngāo吃chī完wán了le被bèi妹妹mèimei ❌
My cake was eaten by my sister.
(Although 被 bèi has been translated as “by,” it is always positioned before the verb in Chinese.)

這zhè本běn書shū被bèi我wǒ姐姐jiějie寫xiě了le这zhè本běn书shū被bèi我wǒ姐姐jiějie写xiě了le ❌
This book was written by my sister.
(This result wasn’t negatively affected or unexpected.)

咖啡kāfēi被bèi爸爸bàba喝hē咖啡kāfēi被bèi爸爸bàba喝hē ❌
Coffee was drunk by dad.
(You need something after the verb.)

Practice – change it to a 被 bèi sentence

TouchHover over the space to see the answers.

✔️ 小狗xiǎogǒu吃chī完wán了le我的wǒde飯fàn小狗xiǎogǒu吃chī完wán了le我的wǒde饭fàn
The puppy finished my food.

我的wǒde飯fàn被bèi小狗xiǎogǒu吃chī完wán了le我的wǒde饭fàn被bèi小狗xiǎogǒu吃chī完wán了le
My food was eaten by the puppy.

✔️ 不知道bùzhīdào誰shéi拿ná走zǒu了le我的wǒde手機shǒujī不知道bùzhīdào谁shéi拿ná走zǒu了le我的wǒde手机shǒujī
I don’t know who took my phone.

我的wǒde手機shǒujī不知道bùzhīdào被bèi誰shéi拿ná走zǒu了le我的wǒde手机shǒujī不知道bùzhīdào被bèi谁shéi拿ná走zǒu了le
My phone was taken by someone.

✔️ 你nǐ丟diū了le那些nàxiē垃圾lèsè嗎ma？ 你nǐ丢diū了le那些nàxiē垃圾lājī吗ma？
Did you throw away the garbage?

那些nàxiē垃圾lèsè被bèi你nǐ丟diū了le嗎ma？ 那些nàxiē垃圾lājī被bèi你nǐ丢diū了le吗ma？
Did those trash get thrown away by you?

• The Passive Sentence 2 (HSK 4)

• The Passive Sentence 3 給给 gěi (HSK 6)

• The Passive Sentence 4 (Advanced) (HSK 7-9)