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HSK 3

被

passive marker (by)

particleneutral
被
bèi4th tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
bèi
Part of speech
particle
Level
HSK 3
Strokes
10
Register
neutral

Stroke order for 被

被 is written with 10 strokes. The animation replays automatically.

What does 被 mean?

被 (bèi) is the standard passive marker in Mandarin, working like English 'by' in passive sentences.

The pattern is Subject (recipient of action) + 被 + Agent + Verb + complement: 杯子被弟弟打破了 ('the cup was broken by my younger brother'). The agent after 被 can also be omitted when unknown or unimportant: 我的手机被偷了 ('my phone got stolen'). Three things English speakers must know: first, the verb after 被 almost always needs a result, complement, or 了 — bare verbs sound incomplete.

Second, traditionally 被 implied something negative happened to the subject, but contemporary Chinese (especially news and journalism) uses it neutrally and even positively. Third, when you focus on the actor DOING something to an object, use 把 (the active-emphasis particle); 被 is its passive mirror — same event, opposite framing.

Note: Neutral. Historically 被 was associated with unfortunate or negative events (被打 'got hit,' 被骗 'got cheated'), but modern Mandarin uses it freely for neutral and positive events too — especially in news and written language: 被选中 ('be chosen'), 被邀请 ('be invited').

Example sentences

我的手机被偷了。

Wǒ de shǒujī bèi tōu le.

My phone got stolen.

spoken

杯子被弟弟打破了。

Bēizi bèi dìdi dǎ pò le.

The cup was broken by my little brother.

neutral

他被老师叫到办公室。

Tā bèi lǎoshī jiào dào bàngōngshì.

He was called to the office by the teacher.

neutral

这本书被翻译成了很多语言。

Zhè běn shū bèi fānyì chéng le hěn duō yǔyán.

This book has been translated into many languages.

written

我的自行车被雨淋湿了。

Wǒ de zìxíngchē bèi yǔ lín shī le.

My bike got soaked by the rain.

spoken

Common phrases with 被

被偷了bèi tōu legot stolen
被骗了bèi piàn legot cheated
被打bèi dǎto be hit
被选中bèi xuǎn zhòngto be chosen / selected
被邀请bèi yāoqǐngto be invited

Synonyms

让ràng

让 is a colloquial passive marker — 我的伞让他拿走了 ('my umbrella got taken by him'). Common in casual speech. 被 is the standard neutral choice that works in any register.

叫jiào

叫 is also a spoken passive marker, similar to 让 — 我叫他骗了 ('I got tricked by him'). 被 is more standard and required in formal/written Chinese.

Don't confuse 被 with

把bǎ

把 and 被 are opposite framings of the same event. 我把杯子打破了 ('I broke the cup' — actor focus) vs 杯子被我打破了 ('the cup was broken by me' — recipient focus). Both are correct; choose based on what you want to emphasize.

倍bèi

Same pinyin and tone but very different meaning — 倍 is a multiplier 'times': 两倍 ('twice / double'). 我比你高两倍 ('I'm twice as tall as you'). Don't confuse with passive 被.

背bèi

背 means 'back (of body)' or 'to memorize' — 背书 ('recite from memory'). Same pinyin and tone, similar look, completely different meaning.

FAQ

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