How to Form the Passive Voice with 被 (bèi)
被 (bèi) is the main way to make a passive sentence in Chinese: the thing an action happened to becomes the subject, and 被 introduces the doer, who can be dropped. Subject + 被 + Doer + Verb + 了 (热狗被男孩吃了, “the hot dog was eaten by the boy”). The verb needs a complement or 了 attached, and negation goes before 被.
Why this trips learners up
The Chinese passive voice is built with 被 (bèi), and the easiest way in is to watch a sentence flip. Active: 男孩吃了热狗 (“the boy ate the hot dog”), where 男孩, the doer, is the subject. Passive: 热狗被男孩吃了 (“the hot dog was eaten by the boy”), where the thing that got acted on, 热狗, is now the subject and the doer moves in behind 被. That is the whole idea of how to use 被 in Chinese: Subject (the affected thing) + 被 + Doer + Verb + 了.
Chinese reaches for 被 for a few specific reasons. Often something bad happened to the subject: 他被打了 (“he got beaten”), 我被老板批评了 (“I got told off by the boss”). Sometimes you just want the spotlight on the thing affected rather than the doer. And very often you use 被 precisely because you don’t want to name the doer, because it’s unknown or because it doesn’t matter: 我的钱包被偷了 (“my wallet got stolen”). Notice the doer can simply disappear: 被 + Verb, no agent at all.
Two rules keep a 被 sentence grammatical. First, the verb can almost never stand alone; something has to follow it, most often 了, a result complement, or a direction complement. 他被打 is wrong; 他被打了 (“he got beaten”) or 他被打伤了 (“he got beaten up”) is right, because Chinese wants to know what actually became of the subject. Second, if you name the doer, it sits right after 被, before the verb, not at the end the way English puts “by the boy”: 热狗被男孩吃了, never 热狗被吃了男孩. Negation and adverbs go before 被: 他没被打伤, 小偷终于被抓住了.
One habit to unlearn from English: not every English passive should become 被. 被 still leans toward the unfortunate or the noteworthy, so for a plain, neutral result Chinese often prefers a notional passive that looks active, 作业做完了 (“the homework’s done”), 饭做好了 (“the food’s ready”), with no 被 at all. Think of 被 as the mirror image of 把: 把 keeps the doer as the subject and pushes the object forward to act on it (我把热狗吃了), while 被 makes the affected thing the subject and lets the doer step back or vanish (热狗被吃了). Same event, opposite camera angle.
The structure
Colour key
Each colour marks one grammatical role — and the same colour means the same role on every page in the Lab.
Examples in context
Real-world sentences, easiest first. Toggle pinyin or the translation, tap any word to see its role, or play the audio.
Tap a word to see its grammatical role.
wǒ 我 Subject bèi 被 Pattern lǎobǎn 老板 Object pīpíng 批评 Verb le 了 Function word
I got told off by the boss. (被 + Doer: the doer 老板 sits right after 被.)
wǒ de 我的 Subject qiánbāo 钱包 Subject bèi 被 Pattern tōu 偷 Verb le 了 Function word
My wallet got stolen. (No doer named: just 被 + Verb + 了, because you don’t know who did it.)
xiǎo māo 小猫 Subject bèi 被 Pattern gǒu 狗 Object xià 吓 Verb dào 到 Complement le 了 Function word
The kitten was scared by the dog. (吓到, a result complement, gives the verb the “something after” it needs.)
huāpíng 花瓶 Subject bèi 被 Pattern dìdi 弟弟 Object dǎ 打 Verb suì 碎 Complement le 了 Function word
The vase was smashed by my little brother. (打碎: the result complement 碎 shows what became of the vase.)
xiǎotōu 小偷 Subject bèi 被 Pattern jǐngchá 警察 Object dài 带 Verb zǒu 走 Complement le 了 Function word
The thief was taken away by the police. (带走, a direction complement, closes the 被 sentence.)
tā 他 Subject bèi 被 Pattern gǒu 狗 Object yǎo 咬 Verb guo 过 Function word
He has been bitten by a dog before. (The aspect particle 过 marks a past experience; 被 takes 过 and 了, but never 着.)
nǐ 你 Subject shì bu shì 是不是 Question bèi 被 Pattern lǎobǎn 老板 Object mà 骂 Verb le 了 Function word
Did you get scolded by the boss or not? (A 是不是 question wrapped around the 被 sentence.)
nà 那 Subject běn 本 Subject shū 书 Subject zhōngyú 终于 Adverb bèi 被 Pattern zhǎo 找 Verb dào 到 Complement le 了 Function word
That book was finally found. (终于, an adverb, goes before 被, and the doer is left out.)
Common mistakes
Why it happens: A 被 sentence has to say what became of the subject, so the verb can’t stand bare. 他被打 needs at least a 了 (他被打了) or a complement (他被打伤了) to show the result.
Why it happens: Negation goes before 被, not after it. “He wasn’t wounded” is 他没被打伤, not 他被没打伤. Everything that scopes the action, 没 / 不 and adverbs, sits in front of 被.
Why it happens: The doer goes right after 被, before the verb, unlike English “by the boy” at the end. It’s 热狗被男孩吃了 (“the hot dog was eaten by the boy”), never 热狗被吃了男孩.
Compare & contrast
| Active: the doer is the subject | Passive with 被: the affected thing is the subject | The difference |
|---|---|---|
| 男孩吃了热狗。nánhái chī le règǒu = “the boy ate the hot dog” (active: the doer leads) | 热狗被男孩吃了。règǒu bèi nánhái chī le = “the hot dog was eaten by the boy” (passive: the affected thing leads) | 男孩吃了热狗 puts the doer first (“the boy ate the hot dog”), a plain active report. 热狗被男孩吃了 makes the affected thing the subject (“the hot dog was eaten by the boy”), shifting the spotlight onto what happened to it. |
| 警察抓住了小偷。jǐngchá zhuā zhù le xiǎotōu = “the police caught the thief” (active) | 小偷被抓住了。xiǎotōu bèi zhuā zhù le = “the thief was caught” (passive, doer dropped entirely) | 警察抓住了小偷 (“the police caught the thief”) is active, the doer leading. 小偷被抓住了 (“the thief was caught”) is passive, the thief now the subject, and here the doer is dropped entirely. |
Try it yourself
Say “The cake was finished by my little sister.” Use 被: 蛋糕被妹妹吃完了。
Related patterns
Quick reference card
How to Form the Passive Voice with 被 (bèi) grammar.merrymandarin.com A pocket summary — print it and keep it by your desk.