被: How Chinese Says “It Happened to Me”
被 is the everyday passive — the way to say something was done to a person or thing. It’s the mirror image of 把, it often hints that something unwelcome happened, and the doer is optional. Audio on every example.
How do you say something was done to you in Chinese? You reach for 被 (bèi), the everyday passive marker. Where an active sentence says 小偷偷了我的钱 (“a thief stole my money”), the passive flips the focus onto the thing affected: 我的钱被偷了 (“my money was stolen”). 被 is the exact mirror of 把 — and it’s how Mandarin talks about the moment when life does something to you, often something you’d rather it hadn’t.
What 被 does
被 turns an active sentence inside out. The object of the action — the thing affected — becomes the subject and moves to the front, and the original doer becomes optional. Compare: active 男孩吃了热狗 (“the boy ate the hot dog”) becomes passive 热狗被男孩吃了 (“the hot dog was eaten by the boy”). The spotlight is now on the hot dog and what became of it.
The structure, step by step
The skeleton is Receiver + 被 + (Doer) + Verb + (extra). Two things matter. First, the doer in brackets is optional: 钱被偷了 is perfectly complete without naming the thief. Second — just like 把 — the verb can’t stand bare: it needs a result, complement or 了. ✗ 杯子被打 sounds unfinished; ✓ 杯子被打破了 (“the cup was broken”). Note that 了 and 过 work with 被, but 着 does not — a 被 sentence describes a completed event, not an ongoing one.
Everyday 被 sentences
Six 被 sentences you’ll actually hear. The Chinese Grammar Wiki has many more. Tap 🔊 to hear each.
The “something happened to me” feeling
In everyday speech, 被 often carries a faint sense of adversity — something unwelcome happened. That’s why so many natural 被 sentences are mildly unfortunate: 钱被偷了 (money stolen), 被老板批评了 (told off by the boss), 蛋糕被吃光了 (cake all gone). It’s not a hard rule — modern Mandarin uses 被 for neutral and even good news too (他被选为班长, “he was chosen as class monitor”) — but if something irritating just happened to you, 被 is almost always the word.
被 vs 把: two sides of one coin
被 and 把 describe the same event from opposite ends. 把 puts the spotlight on the doer acting on something: 我把杯子打破了 (“I broke the cup”). 被 puts it on the thing that got acted upon: 杯子被我打破了 (“the cup was broken by me”). Same cup, same breaking — just a different point of view. Learn them as a pair and both click faster.
让, 叫, 给: everyday passives
被 isn’t the only passive. In casual speech, 让 (ràng) and 叫 (jiào) do the same job — but they usually require the doer: 杯子让我打破了, 蛋糕叫他吃了. Informal 给 can mark the passive too, sometimes alongside 被 (钱给偷了). 被 is the safe, all-purpose choice; the others are good to recognise when you hear them.
Three rules that make 被 work
1. The verb needs a result. Like 把, 被 can’t end on a bare verb — add a complement or 了: 被打破了, not 被打.
2. The doer is optional. Name it (被小偷偷了) or drop it (被偷了) — both are fine.
3. Negation and time go before 被. Say 我的车还没被修好 (not yet repaired), 昨天他被批评了 (yesterday…) — never after 被.
Five common mistakes, fixed
| ✗ The error | ✓ The fix | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 杯子被打 | 杯子被打破了 | The verb needs a result — 被 hates a bare verb (like 把) |
| 被偷了我的钱 | 我的钱被偷了 | Put the affected thing first as the subject |
| 杯子打破了被我 | 杯子被我打破了 | The doer goes right after 被: 被 + doer + verb |
| 作业被狗吃着 | 作业被狗吃了 | 被 describes a completed event — use 了/过, not 着 |
| 我的车被没修好 | 我的车没被修好 | Negation goes before 被, not after |
Quick check — the 被 passive
Pick the best answer for each:
“The cup was broken.” 杯子 ___ 打破了。
In a 被 sentence, the doer (agent) is:
Active 我把杯子打破了 in the passive is:
In everyday speech, 被 sentences often describe:
Which can also mark the passive in casual speech?
“I tried other apps and courses before, but nothing clicked until I started with Will. His explanations of tones and grammar are crystal clear, and he pushes me at exactly the right pace.”
Keep going
把 (bǎ) Construction
The mirror of 被 — putting the spotlight on the doer and the result.
Read the guide →的 / 得 / 地 Explained
One sound, three jobs — possession, degree and manner, untangled.
Read the guide →Measure words
个, 张, 条 and the dozen classifiers that cover daily life — with audio.
Read the guide →