Understanding Passive Sentences with '被' in Chinese
In Chinese, sometimes we want to talk about things that happen to someone or something instead of who did the action. This is called a passive sentence. We use the word '被' (pronounced 'bèi') to show this.
Important Points
- The subject of the sentence is the one affected by the action.
- The word '被' comes before the person or thing doing the action.
- Sometimes, the person or thing doing the action is not mentioned.
- The verb comes after '被'.
Let's look at how we can use '被' in a sentence. Imagine you have a toy, and someone breaks it. Instead of focusing on who broke it, you want to talk about the toy being broken. In this case, you use '被' to show that the toy is the one affected.
Examples
- 玩具被弟弟弄坏了。
- 我的书被老师拿走了。
- 苹果被吃掉了。
In each example, the thing that is affected (the toy, my book, the apple) is at the start. Then, we use '被' to show that something happened to it.
Sometimes, we don't need to say who did the action. This is useful if we don't know or it doesn't matter. For example, if you just want to say that the apple was eaten, you can leave out who ate it.
Now you know how to make passive sentences in Chinese using '被'. It's a handy way to talk about things that happen to someone or something. Keep practicing, and soon it will become easy!