HSK 6 · Adjectives

被动 bèidòng “passive” in Chinese

Traditional 被動

What 被动 means

  1. passive

How to say 被动

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale被bèi4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale动dòng4th tone, falling

被动 in a sentence

  1. 看电视是一种被动的活动。

    Kàn diànshì shì yì zhǒng bèidòng de huódòng.

    Watching TV is a passive activity.

    Sentence #797044 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  2. 子翔那个人太老实了，谈恋爱都被动得要命。

    Zǐxiáng nà ge rén tài lǎoshi le, tán liàn'ài dōu bèidòng de yàomìng.

    Zixiang is too much of a nice guy – he’s hopelessly passive in relationships.

    Sentence #13523793 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 被动 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 被 (bèi) with each of its parts in a different colour
被bèiquilt
  • 衤clothes form of 衣 · yīMeaning part
  • 皮skin · píSound part

衤 hints at the meaning (clothes); 皮 (pí) hints at the sound. Compare it with bèi.

The character 动 (dòng) with each of its parts in a different colour
动dòngto move
  • 云cloud · yún
  • 力strength · lìMeaning part

Memory aidStrength 力 makes things move. In the full form 動, 重 (zhòng) gave the sound.

How to write 被动

被 10 strokes · 动 6 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

被动 (bèidòng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 被动 (bèidòng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 被动

Words with 被

被bèi · by被子bèizi · quilt被告bèigào · defendant

Words with 动

动dòng · to move运动yùndòng · to exercise动物dòngwù · animal动物园dòngwùyuán · zoo运动员yùndòngyuán · athlete运动会yùndònghuì · sports meet活动huódòng · activity感动gǎndòng · to be moved激动jīdòng · excited动作dòngzuò · movement

More words: Adjectives

霸道bàdào · overbearing保守bǎoshǒu · conservative卑鄙bēibǐ · despicable悲惨bēicǎn · miserable笨拙bènzhuō · clumsy扁biǎn · flat便利biànlì · convenient别扭bièniu · awkward

FAQs

被动 (bèidòng) means “passive”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it bèidòng: bèi with a 4th tone, then dòng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 被动 is written 被動. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type beidong with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 被动 from the suggestions. Typing beidong into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
被动 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.