Chinese-ctcfl.ox.ac.uk/MD/Grammar/docs/g11.xhtml

<h1 id="passive-with-被-让-叫-and-给">Passive with 被, 让, 叫 and 给</h1>
<p>In Chinese, the passive constructions with 被 bèi 让 ràng 叫 jiào and 给 gěi are not as frequently used as are passive constructions in English. For instance, when translating the previous sentence into Chinese, one would not use the bèi construction.</p>
<ol style="list-style-type: decimal">
<li>The co-verbs 被 bèi 让 ràng 叫 jiào and 给 gěi are used to introduce the agent of a passive sentence, as in 我的车被小王借走了wǒ de chē bèi Xiǎo Wáng jiè zǒu le my car has been borrowed by Xiao Wang. The co-verb 被 bèi introduces the agent, Xiao Wang, who has carried out the action of borrowing. All the co-verbs above have the same function when introducing the agent of a passive sentence, but 被 bèi is the most commonly used. The following tables show the sentence components that are used in the 被 bèi construction.</li>
</ol>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi</th>
<th>agent</th>
<th>verb + other elements</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>我的车</td>
<td>被/让/ 叫 /给</td>
<td>小 王</td>
<td>借 走 了</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>wǒ de chē</td>
<td>bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi</td>
<td>Xiǎo Wáng</td>
<td>jiè zǒu le</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>My car has been borrowed by Xiao Wang.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi</th>
<th>agent</th>
<th>verb + other elements</th>
<th></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>我的车</td>
<td>被/让/ 叫 /给</td>
<td>小 王</td>
<td>开 回 家 去 了</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>w</td>
<td>ǒ de chē</td>
<td>bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi</td>
<td>Xiǎo Wáng</td>
<td>kāi huí jiā qù le</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>My car has been driven back home by Xiao Wang.</p>
<p>You might have noticed that the ‘action verb plus other element’ constructions used in the above sentences are complicated ones. Which elements that can be used with verbs in a 被 bèi construction? Let’s look at the following list.</p>
<ol start="2" style="list-style-type: decimal">
<li>The elements that are commonly preceded by verbs in the bèi construction are:</li>
</ol>
<p>--resultative complements --directional complements --the complement of degree --action measures</p>
<p>As you may have noticed, the elements that are used in the 被 bèi sentence construction are very similar to the ones used in the 把 bǎ construction. After learning the examples below please try to reformulate them as 把 bǎ constructions.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi</th>
<th>Agent</th>
<th>verb + resultative complement</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>电视</td>
<td>被/让/ 叫 /给</td>
<td>小 王</td>
<td>修 好 了</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>diànshì</td>
<td>bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi</td>
<td>Xiǎo Wáng</td>
<td>xiū hǎo le</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The TV has been mended by Xiao Wang.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi</th>
<th>agent</th>
<th>verb + directional complement</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>我的车</td>
<td>被/让/ 叫 /给</td>
<td>小 王</td>
<td>开 回 家 去 了</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>wǒ de chē</td>
<td>bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi</td>
<td>Xiǎo Wáng</td>
<td>kāi huí jiā qù le</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>My car has been driven back home by Xiao Wang.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi</th>
<th>agent</th>
<th>verb + complement of degree</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>房间</td>
<td>被/让/ 叫 /给</td>
<td>小 王</td>
<td>打扫 得 很 干净</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>fángjiān</td>
<td>bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi</td>
<td>Xiǎo Wáng</td>
<td>dǎsǎo de hěn gānjìng</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The room has been cleaned up very nicely by Xiao Wang.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi</th>
<th>agent</th>
<th>verb + action measure</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>我 的 车</td>
<td>被/让/ 叫 /给</td>
<td>小 王</td>
<td>用 了 一会儿</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>wǒ de chē</td>
<td>bèi/ràng/jiào/gěi</td>
<td>Xiǎo Wáng</td>
<td>yòng le yíhuòr</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>My car has been used by Xiao Wang for a little while.</p>
<ol start="3" style="list-style-type: decimal">
<li>被 bèi can also be used to form a passive sentence without introducing an agent, but 给 gěi 让 jiào and 叫 ràng cannot be used in this way. For example,</li>
</ol>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi</th>
<th>verb + other elements</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>我 的 车</td>
<td>被</td>
<td>开 回 家 去 了</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>wǒ de chē</td>
<td>bèi</td>
<td>kāi huí jiā qù le</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>My car has been driven back home.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi</th>
<th>verb + other elements</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>电 视</td>
<td>被</td>
<td>修 好 了</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>diànshì</td>
<td>bèi</td>
<td>xiū hǎo le</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The TV has been mended.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi</th>
<th>verb + other elements</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>房 间</td>
<td>被</td>
<td>打扫 得 很 干 净</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>fángjiān</td>
<td>bèi</td>
<td>dǎsǎo de hěn gānjìng</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The room has been cleaned up very nicely.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi</th>
<th>verb + other elements</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>课文</td>
<td>被</td>
<td>翻译 成 汉 语了</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>kèwén</td>
<td>bèi</td>
<td>fānyì chéng Hànyǔ le</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The room has been cleaned up very nicely.</p>
<ol start="4" style="list-style-type: decimal">
<li>The above examples also indicate that aspect le is used when expressing the idea of an action that has happened. 没 méi not can be followed by the co-verb 被 bèi to change the above examples into the negative form in order to deny that the action has taken place. For example,</li>
</ol>
<p>If someone says that:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi</th>
<th>agent</th>
<th>verb + resultative complement</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>电 视</td>
<td>被</td>
<td>小 王</td>
<td>修 好 了</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>diànshì</td>
<td>bèi</td>
<td>Xiǎo Wáng</td>
<td>xiū hǎo le</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The TV has been mended by Xiao Wang.</p>
<p>You can deny that the action has taken place by saying:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>méi bèi</th>
<th>agent</th>
<th>verb + resultative complement</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>电视</td>
<td>没 被</td>
<td>小王</td>
<td>修 好</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>diànshì</td>
<td>méi bèi</td>
<td>Xiǎo Wáng</td>
<td>xiū hǎo</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The TV hasn’t been mended by Xiao Wang.</p>
<p>If someone says that:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi</th>
<th>verb + complement of degree</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>房间</td>
<td>被</td>
<td>打扫 得 很 干 净</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>fángjiān</td>
<td>bèi</td>
<td>dǎsǎo de hěn gānjìng</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The room has been cleaned up very nicely.</p>
<p>You can deny that the outcome of the action by saying:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi</th>
<th>verb + complement of degree (bu)</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>房间</td>
<td>被</td>
<td>打 扫 得 不很 干 净</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>fángjiān</td>
<td>bèi</td>
<td>dǎsǎo de buhěn gānjìng</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The room has been cleaned up very nicely.</p>
<ol start="5" style="list-style-type: decimal">
<li>Adverbs that are used to describe actions are placed before the verb in a 被 bèi construction, unlike adverbs that are used in the 把 bǎ construction, which are followed by the co-verb 把 bǎ. Let’s see look at some examples.</li>
</ol>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>bèi</th>
<th>agent</th>
<th>adverbial phrase + de</th>
<th>verb + other elements</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>课文</td>
<td>被</td>
<td>小 王</td>
<td>清 清 楚 楚 地</td>
<td>念 了一遍</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>kèwén</td>
<td>bèi</td>
<td>Xiǎo Wáng</td>
<td>Qīngqīngchǔchǔ de</td>
<td>niàn le yíbiàn</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The text has been read out very clearly by Xiao Wang.</p>
<p>If we use this information to form a 把 bǎ sentence it would become:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>subject</th>
<th>adverbial phrase + de</th>
<th>bǎ</th>
<th>object</th>
<th>verb + other elements</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>小王</td>
<td>清 清 楚 楚 地</td>
<td>把</td>
<td>课文</td>
<td>念 了一遍</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Xiǎo Wáng</td>
<td>qīngqīngchǔchǔ de</td>
<td>bǎ</td>
<td>kèwén</td>
<td>niàn le yíbiàn</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Xiao Wang has read the text out loud very clearly.</p>
<p>Assignments Frequently asked questions Click on the following links to view the answers</p>
<ol style="list-style-type: decimal">
<li>When should I use 被 sentences?</li>
<li>Which verb forms are used in 被 sentences?</li>
<li>How can I form 被 sentences?</li>
<li>Sentence pattern 1</li>
<li>Sentence pattern 2</li>
<li>Can all 把 sentences be turned into 被 sentences?</li>
<li>Do 被 sentences always have a negative sense?</li>
<li>Can a simple monosyllabic verb be used in the 被 construction?</li>
<li>Should the agent always appear after 被?</li>
<li>Is there any other difference between 被, 让, 叫 and 给 in passive sentences?</li>
<li>Is it necessary to use 被 or 给 if the agent is not there?</li>
<li>When an active sentence is changed into a passive one, is the emphasis of the sentence also changed?</li>
</ol>