被 (bèi) and the passive in Chinese
被 makes a passive sentence: the thing affected comes first, then 被, then (if you mention them) whoever did it, then the verb: 我的手机被偷了 (my phone was stolen).
It's used most for unwelcome events. In everyday speech you'll also hear 叫 and 让 in the same place.
The essentials
- Thing + 被 + (doer) + verb + something more: 他被老师批评了.
- As with 把, the verb usually needs something after it: 了, a result or a complement.
- Many English passives are plain active sentences in Chinese: 饭做好了 (the food is ready).
- Causing things: 使, 令 and 让 for feelings and results (这件事让我很高兴).
Every lesson on this topic
Each lesson has a full explanation, examples in characters and pinyin you can listen to, and exercises with answers.
B1 (the B1 course)
- 被: the passive (and spoken 叫, 让): 我的手机被偷了: thing + 被 + (doer) + verb + something more. Often for unwelcome events; 叫 and 让 in speech.
B2 (the B2 course)
- Making something happen: 使, 令, 让, 叫, 使得, 导致, 引起: Causing feelings and results, asking people to act, and the written verbs of cause and effect.
In the app, these lessons are taught one idea at a time with audio, practised with questions you can answer in characters or pinyin, and brought back for review.
Other topics
- 了 (le) in Chinese, explained
- 的, 地 and 得: the three de
- Chinese measure words
- The 把 (bǎ) sentence, explained
- 是…的 (shì…de): when, where and how
- Comparisons with 比 (bǐ)
- 过 (guò) and 着 (zhe): experience and ongoing states
- Chinese complements: result, direction and potential
- Questions in Chinese: 吗, question words and particles
- 不 (bù) or 没 (méi): negation in Chinese
- Chinese conjunctions: because, although, if
- Chengyu: Chinese four-character idioms
- Chinese numbers, dates and time
- Chinese tones and pinyin