被 — the passive: “was …ed”
Pattern: thing + 被 + (doer) + V + result
With 被 the thing affected comes first: 我的自行车被偷了 “my bike was stolen”. Who did it follows 被: 蛋糕被弟弟吃了 “the cake was eaten by my brother”. It is mostly used for unpleasant events.
Examples
| 1 | 我的自行车被偷了。 wǒ de zìxíngchē bèi tōu le My bike was stolen. |
| 2 | 蛋糕被弟弟吃了。 dàngāo bèi dìdi chī le The cake was eaten by my little brother. |
| 3 | 我的手机被他拿走了。 wǒ de shǒujī bèi tā názǒu le He took my phone. |
| 4 | 窗户被风吹开了。 chuānghu bèi fēng chuī kāi le The window was blown open by the wind. |
A common mistake
- ✕ Wrong:
我的自行车被偷。→ ✓ Right: 我的自行车被偷了。
Explanations and examples by Zitou. Pinyin added automatically and checked.