俾 as Give and Passive Marker in Cantonese

In Brief

In spoken Cantonese, 俾 bei2 can mean “give,” “let,” or “be affected by an action.” The words after 俾 reveal its job: 俾 + thing + recipient means “give,” while affected person/thing + 俾 + agent + action makes a passive sentence. For a completed passive event, the action often takes 咗 zo2: 我俾人鬧咗 (“I was scolded”).

Overview

The character 俾 bei2 is extremely common in everyday Cantonese. English uses quite different structures for “give me the book,” “let me see,” and “the book was taken,” but Cantonese can use 俾 in all three. This does not mean that these sentences are grammatically identical. Each use has its own recognizable pattern.

A passive sentence presents someone or something as receiving an action rather than performing it. In 部電話俾佢攞咗 (“The phone was taken by them”), 部電話 is the affected thing, 佢 is the agent (the person who performs the action), and 攞 is the action. Cantonese does not change the verb into a special form corresponding to English taken or scolded; word order and 俾 do the work.

This A2 topic builds naturally on 咗 zo2, the marker for a completed action. The beginner task is to recognize the three basic patterns and produce simple passive sentences with an explicit agent. Later, you can refine the distinction between colloquial 俾, written 被 bei6, neutral and adverse passives, and related causative structures.

How It Works

1. 俾 as the verb “give”

The most concrete use of 俾 is as a main verb:

giver + 俾 + thing + recipient

The recipient is the person who receives the thing. Cantonese commonly puts the thing before the recipient, which differs from English “give me the book.”

Part	Cantonese	Meaning
giver	你	you
give	俾	give
thing	本書	the book
recipient	我	me

Together: 你俾本書我。 (“Give me the book.” or, depending on context, “You give me the book.”) Cantonese often leaves out a subject that is obvious, especially in requests: 俾本書我。

Pronouns fit the same pattern:

• 俾佢我。 — Give it to me.
• 我俾咗張飛佢。 — I gave them the ticket.
• 可唔可以俾杯水我？ — Could you give me a glass of water?

When the giving is completed, 咗 normally follows 俾: 俾咗. Here, 俾 itself is the action.

2. 俾 as a passive marker

The core passive pattern is:

affected person/thing + 俾 + agent + action

The subject (the person or thing the sentence is about) appears first, but it does not perform the action. The agent after 俾 performs it.

我 + 俾 + 人 + 鬧咗。
“I was scolded (by someone).”

A useful generic agent is 人 (“someone/people”). Unlike English, which comfortably says “I was scolded” without naming anyone, beginner Cantonese passives are safest with an agent after 俾. Use 人 when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or deliberately left vague.

The completed-action marker belongs after the action verb:

affected person/thing + 俾 + agent + verb + 咗

Compare the position of 咗:

• Giving: 我俾咗本書佢。 — I gave them a book.
• Passive: 本書俾佢攞咗。 — The book was taken by them.

In the first sentence, 俾 means “give,” so 咗 follows 俾. In the second, 俾 introduces the agent and 攞 is the action, so 咗 follows 攞.

Cantonese 俾-passives often describe something unwanted or unfortunate: being scolded, losing an object, having something stolen, or being disturbed. That tendency is strong, but it is not an absolute ban on neutral or positive contexts. Context and vocabulary determine the attitude.

3. 俾 as “let” or “allow”

A third pattern gives someone permission or an opportunity to act:

person who allows + 俾 + person + action

• 媽咪俾我去。 — Mum lets me go.
• 老師俾我哋早啲走。 — The teacher lets us leave earlier.

In requests, the person who allows the action is often omitted:

俾 + person + action

• 俾我試吓。 — Let me try.
• 俾佢講完先。 — Let them finish speaking first.

This pattern can also be called causative or permissive: it expresses that one person causes, allows, or arranges for another person to do something. At A2, “let/allow” is the most useful interpretation.

Telling the three uses apart

Form	Meaning	What follows 俾?
俾本書我。	Give me the book.	a thing, then its recipient
我俾人鬧咗。	I was scolded by someone.	an agent who acts on the first noun
俾我試吓。	Let me try.	a person, then that person’s action

Do not decide from 俾 alone. Ask what role each noun has and whether a second verb follows. In 俾我試, 我 performs 試, so the meaning is “let me try.” In 我俾佢鬧, 佢 performs 鬧 on 我, so the sentence is passive.

Negatives and questions

For a passive event that did not happen, 冇 mou5 normally comes before 俾, and completed 咗 is absent:

• 我冇俾人呃。 — I was not cheated.
• 部電話冇俾佢攞走。 — The phone was not taken away by them.

To warn someone against allowing an event, use 唔好 m4 hou2:

• 唔好俾人見到。 — Don’t let anyone see it / Don’t get seen.
• 唔好俾佢攞走。 — Don’t let them take it away.

Questions use ordinary Cantonese question patterns:

• 你有冇俾人鬧？ — Were you scolded?
• 邊個俾咗呢本書你？ — Who gave you this book?
• 可唔可以俾我睇吓？ — Can you let me have a look?

Examples in Context

Cantonese	Jyutping	English	Note
俾本書我。	bei2 bun2 syu1 ngo5.	Give me a book.	“give” + thing + recipient
我俾咗張相佢。	ngo5 bei2 zo2 zoeng1 soeng2 keoi5.	I gave them a photo.	咗 marks completed giving
可唔可以俾杯水我？	ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 bei2 bui1 seoi2 ngo5?	Could you give me a glass of water?	polite request
我俾人鬧咗。	ngo5 bei2 jan4 naau6 zo2.	I was scolded by someone.	人 is a generic agent
部電話俾佢攞咗。	bou6 din6 waa2 bei2 keoi5 lo2 zo2.	The phone was taken by them.	completed passive event
我架單車俾人偷咗。	ngo5 gaa3 daan1 ce1 bei2 jan4 tau1 zo2.	My bicycle was stolen.	typical adverse passive
件衫俾雨淋濕咗。	gin6 saam1 bei2 jyu5 lam4 sap1 zo2.	The shirt was soaked by the rain.	the agent can be a cause, not a person
我冇俾人呃。	ngo5 mou5 bei2 jan4 aak1.	I wasn’t cheated.	negative completed event; no 咗
你有冇俾老師鬧？	nei5 jau5 mou5 bei2 lou5 si1 naau6?	Did the teacher scold you?	有冇 question
俾我試吓。	bei2 ngo5 si3 haa5.	Let me try.	request for an opportunity
俾佢講完先。	bei2 keoi5 gong2 jyun4 sin1.	Let them finish speaking first.	先 means “first/before anything else”
老闆俾我哋早啲走。	lou5 baan2 bei2 ngo5 dei6 zou2 di1 zau2.	The boss let us leave earlier.	explicit person granting permission
唔好俾人見到。	m4 hou2 bei2 jan4 gin3 dou2.	Don’t let anyone see it.	preventive warning

Common Mistakes

Copying English “give me the book” order

• Wrong: 俾我本書。 (when you mean “Give me the book.”)
• Right: 俾本書我。
• Why: In the core Cantonese double-object pattern, the thing commonly comes before the recipient: 俾 + thing + recipient.

Putting 咗 immediately after passive 俾

• Wrong: 部電話俾咗佢攞。
• Right: 部電話俾佢攞咗。
• Why: In a passive, 攞 is the completed action, so 咗 follows 攞. 俾咗 normally suggests that 俾 itself means “gave.”

Leaving out the agent too early

• Unnatural beginner pattern: 我俾鬧咗。
• Right: 我俾人鬧咗。
• Why: English can omit “by someone,” but the everyday Cantonese pattern normally places an agent after 俾. If you do not know who acted, use 人.

Treating 俾 as an English past-tense marker

• Wrong idea: 俾 means “was” and automatically makes an event past.
• Right: 我俾人鬧 describes being subject to someone’s scolding; 我俾人鬧咗 presents it as completed.
• Why: 俾 marks the relationship between the affected subject and the agent. Time and completion come from context and aspect markers such as 咗.

Misreading “let” as passive

• Possible confusion: 俾我睇吓 as “I was looked at.”
• Right meaning: “Let me have a look.”
• Why: 我 is followed by an action that I perform, 睇. In a passive sentence beginning with 我, the structure would be 我俾 + agent + action.

Using 唔 before 俾 for every negative event

• Wrong: 我唔俾人鬧咗。 for “I wasn’t scolded.”
• Right: 我冇俾人鬧。
• Why: 冇 negates whether a completed event occurred. 唔 is used for non-completed, habitual, intended, or preventive meanings depending on the sentence.

Usage Notes

Spoken 俾 and written 被

俾 bei2 is the normal colloquial choice in spoken Cantonese and in informal writing that represents speech. Formal Standard Written Chinese commonly uses 被 bei6 instead. The pronunciation and function are different even though both may correspond to English “be ...-ed.” Avoid reading 被 as bei2 or assuming that formal written sentences always sound natural in conversation.

You may also encounter 畀 as a written form for spoken bei2. Character preferences vary by publisher and community. Recognize both 俾 and 畀; this article follows the grammar file’s spelling, 俾.

Why negative events are especially common

The 俾-passive naturally highlights what happened to the first person or thing. It is therefore frequent when the event is adverse: 俾人偷咗 (“was stolen”), 俾人呃咗 (“was cheated”), or 俾老闆鬧 (“was scolded by the boss”). A positive interpretation is possible, but speakers may choose an active sentence when there is no reason to foreground the affected participant.

Pronouns do not show case

English changes I to me and he to him. Cantonese pronouns do not change form in this way: 我 can be the giver, recipient, affected person, or allowed person. Word order supplies the role. This makes the patterns easy to build once you stop looking for English-style pronoun changes.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of the following at A2, but these points explain forms you will meet later.

First, “let” and passive meanings can overlap. 唔好俾人見到 may be translated as “Don’t let anyone see it” or “Don’t get caught being seen,” depending on context. Cantonese presents the relationship compactly, while natural English may choose either an active or passive translation. Translation is therefore not a reliable way to label every 俾 mechanically.

Second, the action after a passive agent can be more than one bare verb. It may include a result or direction:

• 俾佢攞走咗 — was taken away by them
• 俾雨淋濕咗 — was soaked by the rain
• 俾人打爛咗 — was broken by someone hitting it

These complements tell you what result the action produced. They belong with the action verb, and completed 咗 normally comes after the full verb-result unit.

Third, advanced passive choice depends on register and information structure (how a speaker arranges what is already known and what is important). Formal writing may prefer 被, while conversation strongly favors 俾. Cantonese also has other ways to describe affected objects and disposal—structures that place an object early to show what is done with it. Those belong to the broader B2 treatment of passive and disposal constructions.

Finally, 俾 can participate in genuine causative meanings, not only permission. Context may suggest that someone caused or arranged an action. At beginner level, learn the transparent 俾 + person + action examples as “let/allow,” then use context to expand your interpretation as you encounter more natural speech.

Practice Tips

1. Sort by what follows 俾. Collect ten short examples and label each one “thing + recipient,” “agent + action,” or “person + action.” This trains recognition without relying on English translation.
2. Move 咗 deliberately. Say pairs such as 我俾咗本書佢 (“I gave them the book”) and 本書俾佢攞咗 (“The book was taken by them”). Listen for which verb is completed.
3. Build passive chains from real mishaps. Choose an affected item, an agent, and an action: 架車 + 俾人 + 整花咗. Then replace the agent with a specific person and make a 有冇 question.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Completed Action 咗 — explains why 咗 follows the completed action in many 俾 sentences.
• Next step: Passive and Disposal Constructions — expands passive choice, written 被, and ways of foregrounding affected objects.