Passive Voice in Vietnamese

In Brief

Vietnamese commonly places bị or được before a verb to present the subject as the person or thing affected by an action. Bị normally frames the event as unwanted or harmful, while được normally frames it as beneficial, welcome, or neutral in formal writing: Anh ấy bị đánh “He was hit,” but Anh ấy được chọn “He was selected.” Unlike English, Vietnamese does not need a special past-participle form, and not every English passive should be translated with bị or được.

Overview

A passive sentence puts the affected person or thing in the foreground rather than the doer. In “The manager selected Lan,” Lan receives the action; in “Lan was selected,” Lan becomes the grammatical subject (the main person or thing the sentence is about). Vietnamese can create this perspective with bị and được.

This B1 pattern builds directly on ordinary Vietnamese verb order. Verbs do not change form: chọn remains chọn, whether it means “select,” “selected,” or “be selected.” The passive marker and the context do the work that English often expresses with a form of “be” plus a past participle. A participle is a special verb form such as “chosen” or “written”; Vietnamese has no equivalent change here.

The important difference for an English-speaking learner is that bị and được often communicate the speaker’s evaluation of the result. English “was” is relatively neutral. Vietnamese usually asks a further question: was the event bad for the subject, good for the subject, or merely being reported in an impersonal style?

How It Works

The core pattern

The simplest structure is:

affected subject + bị/được + verb (+ object or complement)

Marker	Usual viewpoint	Example	Meaning
bị	unwanted, harmful, unfortunate	Tôi bị mất ví.	I had my wallet stolen / I lost my wallet.
được	beneficial, welcome, favorable	Tôi được khen.	I was praised.
được	neutral/formal passive in some contexts	Báo cáo được công bố hôm qua.	The report was published yesterday.

The “affected subject” was often the object (the person or thing acted on) in a corresponding active sentence:

• Active: Giám đốc chọn Lan. — “The director selected Lan.”
• Passive: Lan được chọn. — “Lan was selected.”

No ending is added to chọn. This makes formation simple, but choosing the right marker requires attention to meaning.

Choosing between bị and được

Use bị when the subject suffers, loses something, encounters trouble, or is affected against their interests:

• Anh ấy bị đánh. — He was hit.
• Tôi bị mắng. — I got scolded.
• Chuyến bay bị hoãn. — The flight was delayed.

Use được when the subject gains an advantage, receives approval, help, affection, or an opportunity:

• Cô ấy được khen. — She was praised.
• Tôi được mời dự tiệc. — I was invited to the party.
• Dự án được hỗ trợ. — The project was supported.

The choice reflects how the situation is presented, not a permanent property of the verb. Selling a house may be welcome, neutral, or unwelcome. Nhà đã được bán can present a completed, expected sale; nhà bị bán suggests that the sale was unwanted or unfortunate from the relevant point of view.

Adding the agent

The agent is the doer of the action. In everyday Vietnamese, it can appear directly between the marker and the main verb:

affected subject + bị/được + agent + verb

• Tôi bị bạn lừa. — I was tricked by a friend.
• Cô ấy được mọi người yêu quý. — She is loved by everyone.
• Anh ấy bị cảnh sát bắt. — He was arrested by the police.

This differs from English, which normally introduces the agent with “by.” Vietnamese may also use bởi or do to introduce an agent, especially in writing, but the direct pattern is extremely common. Do not automatically insert bởi every time English has “by.”

The agent is omitted when it is unknown, obvious, unimportant, or deliberately left unstated:

• Xe bị lấy mất rồi. — The vehicle has been taken.
• Đơn của bạn đã được chấp nhận. — Your application has been accepted.

Time and aspect markers

Bị and được do not themselves mean past tense. Vietnamese normally shows time through context, time expressions, or markers such as đã (completed/past), đang (ongoing), and sẽ (future). These usually come before bị/được:

Pattern	Example	Translation
đã + bị/được + verb	Bài đã được sửa.	The assignment has been corrected.
đang + bị/được + verb	Con đường đang được sửa.	The road is being repaired.
sẽ + bị/được + verb	Kết quả sẽ được công bố.	The results will be announced.

A sentence without one of these markers can still refer to the past if the context or a time phrase makes that clear: Hôm qua tôi bị ngã means “I fell yesterday.”

Negation

Place không before bị/được when denying the whole passive event:

• Tôi không bị thương. — I was not injured.
• Đơn này không được chấp nhận. — This application was not accepted.

Be careful with không được + verb. It often means “must not” or “not be allowed to,” rather than a passive event: Không được hút thuốc ở đây means “Smoking is not allowed here” or “You must not smoke here.” Context tells you whether được marks a favorable passive, permission, or possibility.

Vietnamese does not require a passive everywhere

English often prefers a passive when the doer is unknown: “My phone was stolen.” Vietnamese can use Điện thoại của tôi bị lấy mất, but it may also choose a natural active or topic-based sentence, depending on context. A topic is what the speaker chooses to talk about; Vietnamese often states that topic first without copying English passive grammar mechanically.

Likewise, general statements may use người ta (“people,” “they,” or impersonal “one”): Người ta nói rằng... means “It is said that...” A passive translation in English does not prove that Vietnamese needs bị or được.

Examples in Context

Vietnamese	English	Note
Anh ấy bị đánh.	He was hit.	Bị marks a harmful event.
Tôi bị mắng vì đến muộn.	I was scolded for arriving late.	The reason follows with vì.
Nhà bị bán mà không ai hỏi ý kiến bà.	The house was sold without anyone asking her opinion.	Bị presents the sale as adverse.
Điện thoại của tôi bị lấy mất.	My phone was taken.	Mất reinforces loss or disappearance.
Chuyến bay đã bị hoãn hai tiếng.	The flight was delayed for two hours.	Đã marks a completed/past event.
Cô ấy được chọn vào đội tuyển.	She was selected for the team.	A favorable result.
Tôi được bạn bè giúp đỡ rất nhiều.	I received a lot of help from my friends.	The agent stands before the verb.
Em bé được bố mẹ chăm sóc cẩn thận.	The baby is carefully cared for by its parents.	The direct agent pattern needs no bởi.
Bài hát này được nhiều người biết đến.	This song is known by many people.	Common with biết đến “know of.”
Con đường đang được sửa.	The road is being repaired.	Ongoing formal/neutral passive.
Kết quả sẽ được công bố vào thứ Hai.	The results will be announced on Monday.	Future passive.
Đơn của tôi không được chấp nhận.	My application was not accepted.	Negated passive; the result is unfavorable despite được.
Hôm qua anh ấy bị cảnh sát bắt.	Yesterday he was arrested by the police.	Time phrase plus an explicit agent.
Được chọn là một vinh dự lớn.	Being selected is a great honor.	The understood subject is supplied by context.

Common Mistakes

Treating bị and được as interchangeable versions of “be”

• Wrong: Cô ấy bị khen vì làm việc tốt.
• Right: Cô ấy được khen vì làm việc tốt.
• Why: Praise is normally beneficial or welcome, so được is the natural viewpoint. Bị khen is possible only in a specially ironic or unwanted situation.

Using được for a clearly harmful event

• Wrong: Tôi được mất ví.
• Right: Tôi bị mất ví.
• Why: Losing a wallet is adverse. Bị presents the subject as suffering the event.

Conjugating the Vietnamese verb like English

• Wrong: trying to create a Vietnamese equivalent of “was chosen” by changing chọn.
• Right: Lan đã được chọn.
• Why: Vietnamese verbs do not acquire a passive participle. Chọn keeps the same form; đã and được express completion and passive viewpoint.

Copying English “by” with bởi in every sentence

• Awkward: Tôi bị bởi bạn lừa.
• Right: Tôi bị bạn lừa.
• Why: In the common spoken pattern, the agent goes directly between bị/được and the verb. If bởi is used, it belongs to a different, more explicit written construction, not this direct slot.

Assuming bị or được marks the past

• Wrong interpretation: Anh ấy bị phạt can only mean “He was punished.”
• Better understanding: It can mean “He is punished,” “He gets punished,” or “He was punished,” according to context.
• Why: Add đã, đang, sẽ, or a time expression when the timing needs to be explicit.

Misreading không được

• Potential mistake: reading Bạn không được vào only as “You are not received entering.”
• Correct meaning: “You are not allowed to enter.”
• Why: Được also expresses permission or possibility. Learn không được + verb as a frequent prohibition pattern as well as recognizing passive uses from context.

Usage Notes

In conversation, bị is very productive and can resemble English “get” in “get caught,” “get hurt,” or “get scolded.” It highlights an unpleasant experience rather than merely rearranging sentence grammar. Speakers also use bị before states and events that English may not describe as grammatical passives, such as bị ốm (“become/be ill”) or bị ngã (“fall down”). This is one reason it is safer to learn its affected, adverse meaning rather than equating it mechanically with “was.”

Được has several related jobs. Besides favorable passive meaning, it can mean “receive,” “get the benefit of,” “be able to,” or “be allowed to.” In Tôi được nghỉ ngày mai, the most natural reading is “I get to have tomorrow off” or “I am allowed to take tomorrow off.” These meanings share the idea that an opportunity or favorable condition becomes available to the subject.

Neutral được passives are especially common in news, instructions, reports, and administrative writing: Dữ liệu được lưu tự động (“The data is saved automatically”). Here được need not imply that the data feels fortunate. It helps present a process while leaving the actor in the background. In ordinary speech, an active sentence may sound lighter when the actor is known.

Pronouns and kinship terms remain important. Vietnamese often identifies people with context-sensitive words such as anh ấy, chị ấy, em, or cô. Passive formation does not remove the need to choose an appropriate form of address.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

The simple B1 rule—bị for adversity, được for benefit—is a strong starting point, not an absolute binary. Context can reverse expectations. A normally positive action may be unwanted: Tôi bị mời lên phát biểu can humorously or reluctantly mean “I got called up to speak.” Conversely, a difficult event may be framed as useful if it brings a benefit. The marker tells you the speaker’s stance toward this occurrence.

In formal prose, agents can be introduced with bởi (“by”) or causes with do (“due to/by”). These constructions are useful when the actor must be explicit, but repeated use can make Vietnamese sound translated from English. Compare the compact Cô ấy được mọi người yêu quý with the more formally packaged Cô ấy được yêu quý bởi mọi người. The first is generally more natural in everyday language.

Vietnamese also has sentences that look active but translate naturally as English passives. Process descriptions, public notices, and topic-comment structures frequently avoid bị/được when no evaluation is needed. More advanced study therefore focuses not only on forming passives but on deciding whether a passive viewpoint is natural at all.

Finally, strings with both a modal meaning and a passive can become ambiguous. In Tài liệu này có thể được tải xuống, có thể means “can,” while được tải xuống is “be downloaded”: “This document can be downloaded.” Reading longer sentences requires separating tense, modality (meanings such as possibility or permission), passive viewpoint, agent, and main verb.

Practice Tips

1. Sort events by viewpoint. Make two lists from daily life: unpleasant events for bị (bị muộn, bị mất, bị phạt) and favorable events for được (được khen, được mời, được giúp). Then turn each phrase into a full sentence.
2. Transform active sentences. Start with Mọi người chọn Lan and move the affected person to the front: Lan được mọi người chọn. Practice once with the agent and once without it.
3. Listen for stance, not just grammar. When you hear bị or được, ask whether it means adverse experience, favorable result, permission, possibility, or a formal neutral passive. Record the whole phrase rather than memorizing the marker alone.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Verb Structure — review unchanged verb forms and the placement of đã, đang, and sẽ.
• Next step: Advanced Passive Constructions — develop agent patterns and finer contrasts between bị and được.
• Advanced reference: Formal Passive and Impersonal — compare formal passives with impersonal patterns such as người ta cho rằng and có thể thấy rằng.