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被bèiused to indicate the passive voice (passive / 被 construction)

HSK 3word

By Chinese Copilot · Last updated

被 (bèi) means a passive marker. The affected person or thing becomes the subject, and the doer may follow 被 or be left out. The pattern is subject + 被 + (doer) + verb phrase. Something such as 了 or a complement must follow the verb; a bare one-character verb alone is not enough.

What does 被 mean?

  1. 1.

    used to indicate the passive voice (passive / 被 construction)preposition

What does the character 被 mean?

  • 被used to indicate the passive voice (passive / 被 construction)

How do you use 被?

Grammar patterns

  1. 1

    Subj. + 被 (+ Doer) + Verb + 了

    Make the affected thing the subject. Name the doer after 被, or omit the doer when it is unknown or unimportant.

  2. 2

    没(有) / 不 + 被 (+ Doer) + Verb Phrase

    Negation goes directly before 被. Use 没 or 没有 for the past, and 不 for present or future.

被 sentences often report something unwanted that happened to the subject, and the verb usually needs 了, a complement, or another detail after it.

Patterns

  • …被 + Verb + 了

    我的车被撞了。

    Wǒ de chē bèi zhuàng le.

    My car was hit.

  • …被 + Doer + Verb + 了

    我被他骗了。

    Wǒ bèi tā piàn le.

    I was deceived by him.

What are some examples of 被 in a sentence?

  1. HSK 3

    我的手机被偷了。

    Wǒ de shǒujī bèi tōu le.

    My cell phone got stolen.

  2. HSK 4

    他被警察抓了。

    Tā bèi jǐngchá zhuā le.

    He was caught by the police.

  3. HSK 4

    文件被删了。

    Wénjiàn bèi shān le.

    The files were deleted.

  4. HSK 4

    花瓶被摔碎了。

    Huāpíng bèi shuāi suì le.

    The vase was smashed.

How is 被 different from 把?

被 marks the passive: the affected thing is the subject. 把 (bǎ) marks disposal: the subject acts on a known object.

Only 被 fits here

我的手机被偷了。

Wǒ de shǒujī bèi tōu le.

My cell phone got stolen.

How is 被 used in a conversation?

  1. Speaker A:

    你的手机呢？

    Nǐ de shǒujī ne?

    Where is your phone?

  2. Speaker B:

    被偷了。

    Bèi tōu le.

    It got stolen.

  3. Speaker A:

    什么时候被偷的？

    Shénme shíhou bèi tōu de?

    When was it stolen?

  4. Speaker B:

    昨天在地铁上被偷了。

    Zuótiān zài dìtiě shàng bèi tōu le.

    It was stolen on the subway yesterday.

  5. Speaker A:

    车没事吧？

    Chē méishì ba?

    Is the car okay?

  6. Speaker B:

    车也被撞了一点。

    Chē yě bèi zhuàng le yìdiǎn.

    The car got hit a little too.

Can you use 被 correctly?

0 of 3 answered
  1. 1.Fill in the blank: 我的手机___偷了。
  2. 2.Fill in the blank: 他___警察抓了。
  3. 3.Which sentence is grammatical?

What should you learn next?

Related words

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English glosses on this page are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG (snapshot 2026-10-23), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Glosses were edited for learners.