Advanced Passive Constructions in Vietnamese

In Brief

Vietnamese can put the affected person or thing first, followed by bị or được, an optional agent, and the action: Tôi bị bạn lừa (“I was tricked by a friend”). Bị normally presents the event as unwanted or harmful, while được normally presents it as welcome or beneficial. These words express the speaker’s viewpoint, so Vietnamese does not use them for every sentence that English puts in the passive.

Overview

An English passive changes “The police arrested him” into “He was arrested by the police.” Vietnamese has no participle form like English arrested. Instead, it can make the affected participant the topic and use bị or được before the event. The affected participant is sometimes called the patient (the person or thing that undergoes the action), and the agent is whoever performs it.

At B1, the essential pattern is easy to recognise. The real challenge is choosing a natural viewpoint. Bị highlights an adverse result: someone is deceived, injured, criticised, or prevented from doing something. Được highlights a favourable result: someone is praised, invited, helped, or given an opportunity. A neutral event may use neither marker, especially when Vietnamese simply states what happened to a topic.

Advanced constructions also keep an agent between the marker and the action, and they can contain another verb phrase after verbs such as bắt (“force/catch”), cho (“allow/give”), yêu cầu (“request/require”), and khuyên (“advise”). Understanding the whole chain is more useful than trying to replace every English “be + past participle” word for word.

How It Works

The extended pattern

The most useful reference pattern is:

affected participant + bị/được + agent + verb phrase

Part	Function	Example
Tôi	affected participant	I
bị	adverse viewpoint	was unfortunately affected
bạn	agent	a friend
lừa	action	deceive

Together: Tôi bị bạn lừa. Literally, the order is close to “I adversely-underwent a friend deceive [me].” The English translation is naturally “I was tricked by a friend.” Vietnamese does not add a separate object pronoun after lừa because tôi already names the affected participant.

The agent can be a person, group, institution, event, or force:

• Anh ấy bị cảnh sát bắt. — He was arrested by the police.
• Cô ấy được mọi người yêu quý. — She is loved by everyone.
• Con đường bị nước lũ cuốn trôi. — The road was washed away by floodwater.

When the agent is unknown, obvious, or unimportant, leave it out:

• Xe của tôi bị lấy mất. — My vehicle was stolen.
• Hồ sơ đã được duyệt. — The application has been approved.

Choosing bị or được

Vietnamese pattern	English meaning	Typical viewpoint
bị + (agent) + action	be/get subjected to an action	unwanted, harmful, inconvenient
được + (agent) + action	be/get the benefit of an action	wanted, beneficial, fortunate
topic + action/result	a result stated without bị/được	neutral or viewpoint left unstated

Compare one situation from different viewpoints:

• Cuốn sách được dịch sang tiếng Việt. The translation is presented as a useful achievement.
• Cuốn sách đã dịch sang tiếng Việt rồi. In suitable context, this simply reports that the book has been translated; the phrasing is conversational and result-focused.
• Cuốn sách bị dịch sai nhiều chỗ. The poor translation is presented as a problem.

The marker does not mechanically label the action itself as good or bad. It frames how the event affects the participant. Anh ấy bị sa thải presents dismissal as a setback. In an unusual context where dismissal brings a desired benefit, a speaker might avoid bị, but được sa thải still sounds marked because being fired is conventionally adverse. Context and normal expectations work together.

Tense and time

Bị and được do not change form and do not by themselves mean past tense. Time comes from context or particles such as đã (completed/past), đang (in progress), and sẽ (future):

Time	Vietnamese	English
completed	Hồ sơ đã được giám đốc duyệt.	The application was/has been approved by the director.
in progress	Cây cầu đang được sửa.	The bridge is being repaired.
future	Kết quả sẽ được công bố ngày mai.	The results will be announced tomorrow.

A common order is đã/đang/sẽ + bị/được + agent + verb. Other particles can appear elsewhere according to their scope, but this order is a reliable learner pattern.

Agents with bởi and do

In everyday speech, an agent commonly follows bị/được directly: bị cảnh sát bắt, được mọi người yêu quý. Formal and written Vietnamese may use bởi (“by”) or do (“due to/by”):

• Quyết định này được thông qua bởi hội đồng. — This decision was approved by the council.
• Chuyến bay bị hoãn do thời tiết xấu. — The flight was delayed because of bad weather.

Bởi explicitly introduces an agent or cause and can sound formal or translation-like when overused. Do often introduces a cause rather than a deliberate actor. Do not assume that English by must always become bởi.

When no passive marker is needed

Vietnamese is topic-prominent: speakers often begin with what the sentence is about, then report its state or result. As a result, a natural translation may contain no bị or được:

• Cửa mở rồi. — The door has been opened / is open now.
• Bài này viết năm 1995. — This work was written in 1995.
• Nhà xây xong rồi. — The house has been built / construction is finished.

These compact forms depend heavily on context and are common in conversation. Use bị/được when the affected viewpoint matters or when it makes the roles clearer.

Examples in Context

Vietnamese	English	Note
Tôi bị bạn lừa.	I was tricked by a friend.	Explicit agent; adverse effect
Cô ấy được mọi người yêu quý.	She is loved by everyone.	Favourable evaluation
Anh ấy bị cảnh sát bắt.	He was arrested by the police.	Explicit institutional agent
Bài hát được nhiều người biết.	The song is known by many people.	Wide recognition is presented positively
Máy tính của tôi bị em trai làm hỏng.	My computer was broken by my younger brother.	The agent comes before the action
Lan được công ty cử đi học ở Singapore.	Lan was sent by her company to study in Singapore.	Beneficial opportunity plus a second verb phrase
Chúng tôi được chủ nhà mời vào.	We were invited in by the host.	vào gives the direction “in”
Đứa trẻ bị con chó cắn vào chân.	The child was bitten on the leg by the dog.	Body-part detail remains after the verb
Bệnh nhân đang được bác sĩ kiểm tra.	The patient is being examined by the doctor.	Ongoing event with đang
Kết quả sẽ được ban tổ chức công bố tối nay.	The results will be announced by the organisers tonight.	Future time with sẽ
Chuyến tàu bị hoãn vì mưa lớn.	The train was delayed because of heavy rain.	Cause rather than deliberate agent
Tôi được thầy cho nghỉ sớm.	My teacher allowed me to leave early.	Passive-like chain with cho + verb
Nam bị mẹ bắt dọn phòng.	Nam was made by his mother to clean his room.	Adverse chain with bắt + verb
Nhân viên được yêu cầu đeo thẻ.	Employees are required to wear identification badges.	Agent omitted; formal instruction

Common Mistakes

Treating every English passive as bị

• Wrong: Bài hát bị nhiều người biết. (when popularity is meant positively)
• Right: Bài hát được nhiều người biết.
• Why: Bị suggests that being known is undesirable. Use được when recognition benefits the song, or choose a neutral active expression such as Nhiều người biết bài hát này (“Many people know this song”).

Putting the agent after the main verb

• Wrong: Tôi bị lừa bạn.
• Right: Tôi bị bạn lừa.
• Why: In the extended construction, the agent normally stands between bị/được and the action: affected participant + marker + agent + verb.

Repeating the affected participant as an object

• Wrong: Cô ấy được mọi người yêu quý cô ấy.
• Right: Cô ấy được mọi người yêu quý.
• Why: The opening noun phrase already identifies whom everyone loves. Repeating cô ấy after the verb is unnecessary in this simple construction.

Using được without checking its other meanings

• Potentially unclear: Tôi được đi.
• Clear in context: Tôi được phép đi. — I am allowed to go.
• Different meaning: Tôi được bạn đưa đi. — I was taken there by a friend.
• Why: Được + verb can express permission, opportunity, successful ability, or favourable passive meaning. An agent or phép (“permission”) can make the intended structure clearer.

Copying English “by” as bởi every time

• Awkward in ordinary conversation: Tôi bị lừa bởi bạn tôi.
• More natural: Tôi bị bạn tôi lừa.
• Why: Direct placement of a short agent is usually more idiomatic in speech. Bởi is useful in formal writing or when a long agent phrase needs explicit marking.

Stacking bị and được mechanically

• Wrong: Nam bị được mẹ bắt dọn phòng.
• Right: Nam bị mẹ bắt dọn phòng.
• Why: One marker frames Nam’s experience. The following chain mẹ bắt dọn phòng already means that his mother made him clean the room; no second passive marker is needed.

Usage Notes

Viewpoint is part of the message

English passive voice often manages information: it puts the receiver of an action first or hides the actor. Vietnamese bị/được constructions can do that too, but they also commonly evaluate the event. This is why a grammatically possible sentence may still sound strange if its viewpoint clashes with the context.

Compare Tôi được sếp gọi and Tôi bị sếp gọi. Both can correspond to “I was called by the boss.” Được can suggest welcome attention or an opportunity; bị can suggest trouble or an unwanted summons. A neutral speaker may say Sếp gọi tôi (“The boss called me”) instead.

Speech and formal writing

Everyday Vietnamese often prefers an active sentence when the agent is known: Cảnh sát bắt anh ấy may be simpler than Anh ấy bị cảnh sát bắt unless the speaker wants to centre his experience. News, administrative writing, and academic prose use được, bị, do, and bởi more often to keep the affected topic in focus or omit an unknown agent.

In formal notices, được yêu cầu (“is/are required”), được phép (“is/are permitted”), and bị cấm (“is/are prohibited”) are common. Notice that được yêu cầu is not necessarily pleasant. Here được helps form a conventional formal expression; the simple good-versus-bad rule is a strong starting point, not an absolute law.

Ellipsis and subjects understood from context

Vietnamese can omit a participant when context identifies it:

• Bị mất rồi. — It has been lost / I’ve lost it, depending on context.
• Được chọn rồi! — [Someone] has been selected!

Such sentences are natural in conversation but ambiguous in isolation. Learners should first practise full forms, then notice what native speakers leave unsaid.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Passive-causative chains

Some constructions look like “double passives” in English translation because one affected participant is followed by a chain of actions:

affected participant + bị/được + agent + causative/reporting verb + second verb phrase

• Nam bị mẹ bắt dọn phòng. — Nam was made by his mother to clean his room.
• Tôi được thầy cho nghỉ sớm. — I was allowed by my teacher to leave early.
• Cô ấy được bác sĩ khuyên nghỉ ngơi. — She was advised by the doctor to rest.

The participant at the start is affected by the first relationship and is usually also the understood subject of the last verb: Nam does the cleaning; I leave early; she rests. Analyse the sentence in chunks rather than inserting another bị or được before the final verb.

A related formal pattern omits the agent:

• Khách được yêu cầu không hút thuốc. — Guests are requested not to smoke.
• Anh ấy bị buộc phải từ chức. — He was forced to resign.

In bị buộc phải, bị marks an adverse imposed event, buộc means “force,” and phải marks necessity. The several layers reinforce compulsion, but only bị is the passive-viewpoint marker.

Lexical meanings of bị and được

The same words occur outside passive constructions. Bị can mean “suffer from/get” in bị bệnh (“be ill”) or bị đau đầu (“have a headache”), where there is no external agent performing a verb. Được can mean “receive” (được quà, “receive a gift”), permission (được vào, “be allowed to enter”), or successful possibility (làm được, “be able to accomplish it”).

Position helps. In làm được, được follows the verb and expresses successful ability. In được bác sĩ chữa, it precedes an agent and action, so the favourable passive reading is clear. Context remains decisive.

Scope and embedded clauses

Longer sentences may place the passive construction inside another clause:

• Tôi nghe nói anh ấy đã được nhận vào công ty. — I heard that he had been accepted into the company.
• Người bị cảnh sát bắt hôm qua là hàng xóm của tôi. — The person arrested by the police yesterday is my neighbour.

In the second example, bị cảnh sát bắt hôm qua modifies người (“person”). It functions much like an English relative clause, but Vietnamese does not require a relative pronoun equivalent to who.

Choosing a neutral rewrite

When neither benefit nor adversity fits, rewrite rather than force a marker. You can use an active clause with a general agent, a topic-result structure, or a stative expression:

• Người ta xây cây cầu này năm 2010. — They built this bridge in 2010.
• Cây cầu này xây năm 2010. — This bridge was built in 2010.
• Cửa đang mở. — The door is open.

This flexibility is central to natural Vietnamese. A good translation preserves focus and viewpoint, not necessarily English grammatical voice.

Practice Tips

1. Build three versions of one event. Start with an active sentence such as Mọi người khen Lan. Then make a favourable affected version (Lan được mọi người khen) and ask whether an adverse version would make sense in a special context. This trains viewpoint, not just word order.
2. Mark roles with brackets. In long sentences, separate the affected participant, marker, agent, and action: [Nam] [bị] [mẹ] [bắt dọn phòng]. Then identify who performs each verb.
3. Listen for what is omitted. In news clips and conversations, note whether speakers include an agent, use bởi/do, or choose an active sentence instead. Record the whole phrase around bị/được, because isolated translations are often misleading.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Passive Voice — introduces the core contrast between bị and được before explicit agents and longer verb chains are added.