被-construction (passive)
被 marks the passive voice: the subject receives the action rather than performing it.
Structure: Subject + 被 + (Agent) + Verb + Result
The agent (who did it) is optional — you can omit it if unknown or unimportant:
✅ 我的钱包被偷了。(wallet was stolen — agent unknown)
✅ 我的钱包被小偷偷走了。(wallet was stolen by the thief)
Hard rules:
1. The verb must have a result complement — bare verbs are ungrammatical: ❌ 书被看。
2. 被 is neutral or negative in tone — it usually implies something unwanted happened.
Contrast with 把: 把 = agent actively disposes of object. 被 = subject passively receives action.
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 那本书被我不小心弄湿了。 | Nà běn shū bèi wǒ bù xiǎo xīn nòng shī le. | That book was accidentally gotten wet by me. | 被 + agent (我) + V (弄) + result (湿). Result complement 湿 is required. |
| 他被经理批评了一顿。 | Tā bèi jīng lǐ pī píng le yī dùn. | He was criticized by the manager. | 被 + agent (经理) + V (批评) + frequency complement (一顿) |
| 这件事被很多人知道以后，她感到非常难堪。 | Zhè jiàn shì bèi hěn duō rén zhī dào yǐ hòu, tā gǎn dào fēi cháng nán kān. | After this matter became known by many people, she felt very embarrassed. | 被…以后 = after being done by…; 难堪 is the subjective result |
What you need first
Every topic in GraphChinese names its own prerequisites, and these are the grammar points this one is built on. If a sentence here will not parse, one of them is why.
What this opens up
These patterns list 被-construction (passive) among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.
The same pattern at other levels
- Passive Constructions — HSK 3
被-construction (passive) is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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