▎被, bèi, (Ptc), A Passive Marker (See 受 shòu entry also)

 

Function 被 passive sentences express not only the ‘affected’ meaning but also the ‘unfortunate’ meaning, especially in ordinary daily speech. The particle 被 is commonly used in translating English passive sentences.

1 我的自行車昨天被偷了。

Wǒ de zìxíngchē zuótiān bèi tōu le.

My bike got stolen yesterday.

2 我的腿被他踢得很痛。

Wǒ de tuǐ bèi tā tī de hěn tòng.

My leg got kicked by him and hurts.

3 這些餃子包得不錯，但是被我煮破了。

Zhèxiē jiǎozi bāo de búcuò, dànshì bèi wǒ zhǔpò le.

These dumplings were wrapped well, but they were split open by me when cooking.

 

Structures Obj＋被＋(Subj)＋V. The subject is omitted when its identity cannot be established.

Negation：The negator is 沒, which occurs before 被.

1 沒關係，我的錢沒被偷。

Méi guānxi, wǒ de qián méi bèi tōu.

It’s OK. My money wasn’t stolen.

2 那些碗沒被弟弟打破。

Nàxiē wǎn méi bèi dìdi dǎpò.

Those bowls were not broken by my little brother.

3 那些學生在打棒球。小心別被球打到。

Nàxiē xuéshēng zài dǎ bàngqiú. Xiǎoxīn bié bèi qiú dǎdào.

Those students are playing baseball, be careful, don’t get hit by the ball.

Questions：

1 聽說你的手機不見了，是不是被偷了？

Tīngshuō nǐ de shǒujī bújiàn le, shìbúshì bèi tōu le?

I heard your cell phone disappeared. Did it get stolen?

2 你知道我們學校電腦教室的窗戶被打破了嗎？

Nǐ zhīdào wǒmen xuéxiào diànnǎo jiàoshì de chuānghù bèi dǎpò le ma?

Did you know that the window in the computer room of our school got smashed?

3 我找不到我的本子，是不是被你帶回家了？

Wǒ zhǎobúdào wǒ de běnzi, shìbúshì bèi nǐ dàihuí jiā le?

I can’t find my notebook. Was it taken home by you? (i.e., Did you take it home with you?)

 

Usage

(1) 被 passive can refer to instances either in the past as shown in 1, 2; in the future 3, 4; or to habitual instances as shown in 5, 6.

1 上個星期他的背包被偷了。

Shàng ge xīngqí tā de bēibāo bèi tōu le.

His backpack got stolen last week.

2 他花一萬塊買背包的事被爸爸發現了。

Tā huā yí wàn kuài mǎi bēibāo de shì bèi bàba fāxiàn le.

He spent NT$10,000 to buy a backpack and was found out by his dad.

3 按照臺灣的法律，你不能打工。要不然會被送回你的國家。

Ànzhào Táiwān de fǎlǜ, nǐ bù néng dǎgōng. Yàobùrán huì bèi sònghuí nǐ de guójiā.

According to Taiwan law, you can’t work, or else you will be sent back to your country.

4 明天這張桌子就會被搬到別的教室去了。

Míngtiān zhè zhāng zhuōzi jiù huì bèi bān dào biéde jiàoshì qù le.

Tomorrow this desk will be moved to a different classroom.

5 他不想被人知道他結過婚了。

Tā bù xiǎng bèi rén zhīdào tā jiéguò hūn le.

He doesn’t want anyone to know that he has been married before.

6 媽媽每次買芒果蛋糕回來，馬上就被妹妹吃光了。

Māma měi cì mǎi mángguǒ dàngāo huílái, mǎshàng jiù bèi mèimei chīguāng le.

Every time Mom buys a mango cake, it gets eaten up instantly by my kid sister.

(2) The noun after 被, i.e., the subject, the actor, can be omitted.

1 我們打工的事被發現了。

Wǒmen dǎgōng de shì bèi fāxiàn le.

It’s been found out that we are working part-time jobs.

2 出去旅行要小心，錢別被偷了。

Chūqù lǚxíng yào xiǎoxīn, qián bié bèi tōu le.

Be careful while traveling. Don’t get your money stolen.

3 小李常常被罵，因為他上班幾乎每天遲到。

Xiǎo Lǐ chángcháng bèi mà, yīnwèi tā shàngbān jīhū měi tiān chídào.

Xiao Li often gets reprimanded because he is late for work almost every day.

 

Or in some cases, it can be an indefinite noun, i.e., someone, somebody.

 

1 我的腳踏車被人偷了。

Wǒ de jiǎotàchē bèi rén tōu le.

My bike was stolen by somebody.

2 我們說的話被人聽見了。

Wǒmen shuō de huà bèi rén tīngjiàn le.

What we were talking about was overheard by somebody. (or Somebody overheard what we talking about.)

3 小美發現自己被人騙了。

Xiǎoměi fāxiàn zìjǐ bèi rén piàn le.

Xiaomei found that she was tricked.