| 被 (bèi) sentences, which are called 被字句 (bèi zì jù) in Chinese, are a way to express the passive voice in modern Mandarin Chinese. In passive sentences, the object of an action becomes the subject of the sentence, and the "doer" of the action, which would have been the subject of the normal (active voice) sentence, becomes secondary and may or may not be mentioned in the passive sentence. 被 sentences are sentences which use a passive verb and the word 被. They are not the only way to create the passive verb form in Chinese, but they are the most common one. Take these sentences for example:
The general structure for 被 sentences is:
Why use 被 sentences? First, passive sentences indicate that one has been negatively affected. For example:
Second, passive sentences shift emphasis from the "doer" of the action to the one affected by that action. For example:
Third, passive sentences allow one to avoid having to mention the "doer" of the action, either because it is unknown, or for other reasons. For example:
Negating 被 Sentences What if you want to make a sentence in the negative? To negate a 被 sentence, you need to insert 没 or 没有 (past) directly in front of 被. For the present and future, use 不.
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