A passive sentence is the mirror image of an active one:instead of the subject doing the action, the subject receives it. In Chinese this is most often signaled with 被 bèi被 bèi placed right before the verb — never after it, no matter how natural “by” feels in the English translation.
Before the formal rules — look at these three pictures. Can you guess what happened, just from the image?
What happened to the bread?
麵包被吃了一半面包被吃了一半
Half of the bread was eaten.
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What happened to the letter in the bottle?
瓶子裡的信被拿出來了瓶子里的信被拿出来了
The letter in the bottle was taken out.
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What happened to the treasure box?
寶箱被打開了宝箱被打开了
The treasure box was opened.
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Notice something? None of these sentences say who ate the bread or opened the box — and they still make perfect sense. That’s 被 bèi被 bèi at work. Now let’s break down how it’s built.
1 What Is a Passive Sentence
In an active sentence, the subject performs the action. In a passive sentence, the subject is on the receiving end — and 被 bèi被 bèi is what marks that shift.
Active
弟弟喝了咖啡弟弟喝了咖啡
My brother drank coffee.
Passive
咖啡被弟弟喝了咖啡被弟弟喝了
Coffee was drunk by my brother.
Active
狗咬了我狗咬了我
The dog bit me.
Passive
我被狗咬了我被狗咬了
I was bitten by a dog.
Active
小偷偷走了包包小偷偷走了包包
The thief stole the bag.
Passive
包包被小偷偷走了包包被小偷偷走了
The bag was stolen by a thief.
When to Use It
被 bèi被 bèi shows up most naturally when the result is negative or unexpected — being scolded, robbed, dumped, or bitten. It can be used for neutral or even positive results too, but that use is less common and needs the right context.
沒想到我被老師誇獎了没想到我被老师夸奖了 — I didn’t expect to be complimented by my teacher.
2 Structure
(1) Subject + 被 bèi被 bèi + Object + Verb + Other Elements
Here the doer of the action (“Object” in this formula — the one doing the acting) is named right after 被 bèi被 bèi. The “Other Elements” after the verb are essential — this is usually 了 le了 le, a complement, or another object, and it can’t be left off.
他被女朋友甩了他被女朋友甩了
He was dumped by his girlfriend.
你的頭髮是被狗啃了嗎你的头发是被狗啃了吗
Did a dog chew on your hair? (A joking way to say someone’s hairstyle looks messy.)
那個手機沒被我弄壞那个手机没被我弄坏
I didn’t break the phone. (Negation goes before 被 bèi被 bèi, never after.)
我的錢包又被人偷了我的钱包又被人偷了
My wallet was stolen again. (Adverbs like 又 yòu又 yòu also go before 被 bèi被 bèi.)
妹妹被誰罵了妹妹被谁骂了
My sister was scolded by whom? (The “Object” slot can be a question word like 誰 shéi谁 shéi too.)
(2) Subject + 被 bèi被 bèi + Verb + Other Elements
When the doer isn’t known, doesn’t matter, or is obvious from context, it can simply be left out — 被 bèi被 bèi goes straight into the verb.
包包被偷走了包包被偷走了
The bag was stolen. (No mention of who did it.)
我的傘沒被拿走我的伞没被拿走
My umbrella wasn’t taken. (沒被 méi bèi没被 méi bèi — negating a doer-less passive.)
車子被撞壞了车子被撞坏了
The car got wrecked. (It doesn’t matter or isn’t known who hit it.)
房子被燒了房子被烧了
The house was burned down. (The cause is either unknown or just not the point.)
Why the Doer Gets Left Out
This happens for a few reasons:the doer is genuinely unknown (like a stolen bag), it’s irrelevant to the point being made (a wrecked car — what matters is the damage, not who caused it), or it’s already obvious from context and repeating it would be redundant.
A Note on “Other Elements”
In both structures, something has to follow the verb — 了 le了 le, a complement, or another object. 被 bèi被 bèi alone with a bare verb doesn’t work as a complete sentence. This holds even when there’s no doer: 房子被燒 fángzi bèi shāo房子被烧 fángzi bèi shāo on its own feels incomplete, but 房子被燒了 fángzi bèi shāo le房子被烧了 fángzi bèi shāo le is a full sentence.
3 Questions
You can’t ask a 被不被 bèi被 bèibúbèi被不被 bèi被 bèibúbèi question. Use 嗎 ma吗 ma, a question word, or 是不是 shìbúshì是不是 shìbúshì instead.
妹妹被老師罵了嗎妹妹被老师骂了吗
Was my sister scolded by the teacher? ✅
妹妹是不是被老師罵了妹妹是不是被老师骂了
Was my sister scolded by the teacher? ✅
❌妹妹被不被老師罵了妹妹被不被老师骂了
Was my sister scolded by the teacher?
你被打過嗎你被打过吗
Have you been beaten? ✅
你是不是被打過你是不是被打过
Have you been beaten? ✅
你被什麼東西打過你被什么东西打过
What have you been hit with? ✅
A Cultural Note
Taiwan once had a practice of physical punishment in schools and homes, but that’s long banned — today the focus is on positive discipline instead. Older generations still sometimes bring it up casually, asking each other “what have you been hit with?” as a way of reminiscing, not as a reflection of how things are now.
4 Common Mistakes
❌
我的蛋糕吃完了被妹妹我的蛋糕吃完了被妹妹
✅
我的蛋糕被妹妹吃完了我的蛋糕被妹妹吃完了
My cake was eaten by my sister. 被 bèi被 bèi always sits before the verb, no matter how natural “by” feels at the end of the English sentence.
❌
這本書被我姐姐寫了这本书被我姐姐写了
This book was written by my sister. Grammatically fine, but odd — nothing negative or unexpected happened here, so 被 bèi被 bèi feels out of place. A plain active sentence (我姐姐寫了這本書 wǒ jiějie xiěle zhèběn shū我姐姐写了这本书 wǒ jiějie xiěle zhèběn shū) reads much more naturally.
❌
咖啡被爸爸喝咖啡被爸爸喝
✅
咖啡被爸爸喝了咖啡被爸爸喝了
Coffee was drunk by dad. A bare verb after 被 bèi被 bèi isn’t enough — you need something after it, even if it’s just 了 le了 le.
5 Practice
Translate each English sentence into a 被 bèi被 bèi sentence, then tap the card to check your answer.
01The puppy finished my food.
我的飯被小狗吃完了我的饭被小狗吃完了
My food was eaten by the puppy.
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02I don’t know who took my phone.
我的手機不知道被誰拿走了我的手机不知道被谁拿走了
My phone was taken by someone.
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03Did you throw away the garbage?
那些垃圾被你丟了嗎那些垃圾被你丢了吗
Was the garbage thrown away by you?
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04The cat broke the vase.
花瓶被貓打破了花瓶被猫打破了
The vase was broken by the cat.
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05Someone drank my milk.
我的牛奶被人喝了我的牛奶被人喝了
My milk was drunk by someone.
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06My older brother lost the key.
鑰匙被哥哥弄丟了钥匙被哥哥弄丢了
The key was lost by my older brother.
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07No one broke the window.
窗戶沒被打破窗户没被打破
The window wasn’t broken.
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08The boss scolded him.
他被老闆罵了他被老板骂了
He was scolded by his boss.
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09Who touched my computer?
我的電腦被誰動了我的电脑被谁动了
My computer was touched by whom?
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10The heavy rain soaked the clothes.
衣服被雨淋濕了衣服被雨淋湿了
The clothes got soaked by the rain.
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