Passive Alternatives in Mandarin Chinese

In Brief

Mandarin does not rely on 被 for every passive idea. 叫 and 让 can introduce the person or thing responsible, colloquial 给 can mark an unwanted event, 受到 and 遭到 package passive-like meanings in formal language, and many sentences need no passive marker at all: 问题解决了 means “The problem has been solved.” The best choice depends on whether the agent matters, whether the event is adverse, and whether the setting is conversational or formal.

Overview

A passive sentence puts the affected person or thing in the foreground rather than the doer. In 车让人偷了 (“The car was stolen”), 车 is the affected thing, while 人 is the agent (the person who performs the action). English normally signals this relationship with a form of “be” plus a past participle, but Mandarin has several different strategies and often does not mark passive voice explicitly.

At A2, learners usually meet the 被 construction: affected participant + 被 + agent + verb phrase. At B2, it becomes important to recognize that 被 is only one option. Everyday speech commonly uses 叫, 让, and—in some varieties and contexts—给. Formal writing prefers combinations such as 受到欢迎 and 遭到拒绝. Mandarin also allows a notional passive: a sentence understood as passive from meaning and context even though it has no passive marker.

These alternatives are not freely interchangeable. 让 can also mean “let” or “make,” 给 can mean “give” or introduce a recipient, and 受到 and 遭到 are ordinary verbs with restricted kinds of objects. Learning the complete pattern, not just a one-word equivalent, is therefore essential.

How It Works

The basic contrast

Strategy	Typical pattern	Main setting or effect
被	affected participant + 被 + (agent) + verb phrase	Neutral general passive; often highlights impact
叫 / 让	affected participant + 叫/让 + agent + verb phrase	Common in speech; often an unwanted or unfortunate event
给	affected participant + 给 + (agent) + verb phrase	Colloquial and regionally variable; often adverse
受到	subject + 受到 + noun-like expression	Formal or neutral-positive “receive/be subjected to”
遭到	subject + 遭到 + noun-like expression	Formal “suffer/meet with,” necessarily adverse
No marker	affected topic/subject + verb phrase	Result is clear and the agent is unimportant

The “affected participant” is the person or thing that the action happens to. A verb phrase is the verb together with material that completes its meaning, such as 偷走了 (“stole away”), 花光了 (“spent completely”), or 批评了一顿 (“gave a scolding”). Mandarin passive constructions strongly favor a complete, informative verb phrase rather than a bare verb.

叫 and 让 as spoken passive markers

The common pattern is:

affected participant + 叫/让 + agent + verb phrase

• 钱叫他花光了。 — The money was all spent by him.
• 车让人偷了。 — The car was stolen.
• 我的计划让这场大雨打乱了。 — My plans were disrupted by the heavy rain.

In this use, 叫 and 让 are close to 被, but the agent is normally stated. It can be indefinite, as in 人 (“someone/people”), when the speaker does not know or does not wish to identify the doer. The verb phrase usually shows a result or effect through an element such as 了, 完, 光, 走, or another complement.

Both words also have causative meanings: they can mean “make,” “let,” or “ask someone to do something.” Context and the first noun’s semantic role distinguish the readings:

• 我让他关门。 — I asked/made him close the door. (我 causes the action.)
• 我让他骗了。 — I was deceived by him. (我 is affected by the action.)

A result marker often helps the passive reading, but meaning remains decisive. In careful writing, 被 may be clearer when a 让 sentence could be read as causative.

Colloquial 给

In colloquial Mandarin, especially in northern speech, 给 can occur in passive-like patterns:

• 手机给人偷走了。 — The phone got stolen by someone.
• 手机给偷走了。 — The phone got stolen.

The expanded pattern resembles 被:

affected participant + 给 + (agent) + verb phrase

This use often conveys that something happened unexpectedly or against someone’s wishes. It is natural in informal conversation for many speakers, but its frequency and exact patterns vary by region. It is less suitable for formal prose, where 被 or another explicit construction is safer.

Do not confuse passive 给 with its much more common meanings:

• 我给他一本书。 — I give him a book. (给 is a verb.)
• 我给他写信。 — I write a letter to him. (给他 identifies the recipient.)
• 我的书给他拿走了。 — My book was taken away by him. (The context supports a passive reading.)

受到: receiving an influence, treatment, or response

受到 literally presents the subject as receiving or coming under something. What follows is generally a noun or a noun-like action expression, not an unrestricted verb phrase:

subject + 受到 + welcome/support/influence/treatment/criticism...

Common combinations include 受到欢迎 (be welcomed), 受到支持 (receive support), 受到影响 (be affected), 受到重视 (be taken seriously), and 受到批评 (be criticized). The result can be positive, negative, or neutral. This construction is especially common in news, reports, presentations, and formal speech.

Compare:

• 这个建议受到了大家的支持。 — This proposal received everyone’s support.
• 这个建议被大家支持了。 — This proposal was supported by everyone.

The first sounds more like formal reporting and treats 支持 as something received. The second is a grammatical 被 passive focused more directly on the action.

遭到: suffering an adverse event

遭到 follows a similar surface pattern but has a clearly negative meaning:

subject + 遭到 + attack/rejection/damage/opposition...

Typical combinations include 遭到拒绝 (be rejected), 遭到破坏 (be damaged), 遭到袭击 (be attacked), 遭到反对 (meet opposition), and 遭到质疑 (be questioned/challenged). Because 遭到 itself means “suffer” or “meet with,” it cannot naturally introduce a positive response such as welcome or praise.

An agent, if useful, is usually placed inside a modifier with 的:

• 这项决定遭到了专家的质疑。 — The decision was questioned by experts.

This is structurally different from 被专家质疑了, where 专家 directly follows the passive marker.

The notional passive: no marker at all

Mandarin often places an affected object at the beginning and then states its new condition or completed treatment:

affected topic/subject + verb phrase

• 问题解决了。 — The problem has been solved.
• 票已经卖完了。 — The tickets have already sold out / been sold out.
• 饭做好了。 — The meal is ready / has been prepared.

This is called a notional passive because the passive interpretation comes from the roles and context, not from a word meaning “be.” The opening noun is something that would normally be acted on: problems are solved, tickets are sold, and meals are prepared. The agent is absent because it is unknown, obvious, or irrelevant.

Completion markers and result complements make this pattern especially natural: 了, 好, 完, 清楚, 开, and similar elements tell the listener what has happened to the topic. A bare sentence such as 问题解决 is usually incomplete as an ordinary conversational statement, though it may occur in compact headlines or coordinated formal phrases.

Examples in Context

Mandarin Chinese	English	Note
钱叫他花光了。	The money was all spent by him.	叫 with a named agent and result 光
我的伞叫风刮走了。	My umbrella was blown away by the wind.	Spoken passive; 走 marks removal
车让人偷了。	The car was stolen.	人 is an unspecified agent
比赛让大雨耽误了。	The match was delayed by heavy rain.	让 introduces a nonhuman cause
手机给人拿走了。	The phone was taken away by someone.	Colloquial 给 with an agent
我刚买的杯子给打破了。	The cup I just bought got broken.	Agent omitted; informal and adverse
这部电影受到年轻观众的欢迎。	This film is popular with young audiences.	Formal, positive 受到 expression
她的研究受到了广泛关注。	Her research received widespread attention.	Common report-style wording
新政策遭到了不少人的反对。	The new policy met with opposition from quite a few people.	遭到 requires a negative object
网站遭到黑客攻击。	The website was attacked by hackers.	Compact formal style
问题解决了。	The problem was solved.	Notional passive with no marker
文件已经打印好了。	The document has already been printed and is ready.	好 emphasizes a satisfactory result
票都卖完了。	All the tickets have been sold.	完 marks complete exhaustion
门还没打开。	The door has not been opened yet.	Context may also permit “has not opened”

Common Mistakes

Omitting the agent after 叫 or 让

• Wrong: 车让偷了。
• Right: 车让人偷了。 / 车被偷了。
• Why: Passive 叫 and 让 normally introduce an agent. If the agent is unknown, use 人 or choose agentless 被. Colloquial agentless 给 follows different regional patterns and should not be copied onto 让 automatically.

Treating 受到 and 遭到 as universal passive markers

• Wrong: 车遭到他偷走了。
• Right: 车被他偷走了。 / 车让他偷走了。
• Why: 遭到 takes a noun-like expression such as 袭击, 破坏, or 拒绝. It does not simply replace 被 before any agent and verb phrase.

Using 遭到 for something positive

• Wrong: 这位歌手遭到了大家的欢迎。
• Right: 这位歌手受到了大家的欢迎。
• Why: 遭到 presents its object as harmful or unwelcome. 受到 can describe positive, neutral, and negative treatment.

Leaving the verb too bare

• Wrong: 我的自行车让他偷。
• Right: 我的自行车让他偷走了。
• Why: A passive clause normally reports an actual effect on its subject. 走 and 了 make the completed result explicit; the bare 偷 can sound unfinished or invite a different interpretation.

Translating every English passive with a marker

• Less natural: 这个问题已经被解决了。 (possible, but marked in a simple result report)
• More natural: 这个问题已经解决了。
• Why: When the result matters and the doer does not, Mandarin often uses an unmarked topic-result sentence. English grammar requires “was/has been solved”; Mandarin does not require an equivalent of “been.”

Misreading causative 让 as passive

• Potentially confusing: 经理让我修改报告。
• Meaning: The manager had me revise the report.
• Why: Here 经理 is the person causing the action, not the affected participant. Check what role the first noun plays instead of assuming that every 让 + person + verb sequence is passive.

Usage Notes

Register is the strongest guide. In ordinary conversation, 叫 and 让 can sound vivid and personal, especially when something goes wrong. 给 is still more colloquial and varies more among speakers. In edited prose, official announcements, or academic writing, 被 is generally clearer for a true grammatical passive, while 受到 and 遭到 are common where their lexical meaning fits.

The old learner rule that Chinese passives are always negative is too simple. 叫, 让, and colloquial 给 often accompany loss, damage, or inconvenience, but context determines the attitude. 被 itself is now widely used for neutral and positive events as well. 受到 readily appears with positive nouns such as 欢迎, 表扬, and 支持; 遭到, by contrast, remains negative.

Mandarin also avoids passive wording more often than English. An English writer may choose a passive because the agent is unknown: “The meeting has been cancelled.” A natural Mandarin notice can simply say 会议取消了. Before choosing a marker, ask whether the sentence is really about an agent acting on something or merely about a new result.

Some unmarked sentences are ambiguous between an event happening by itself and an action performed by someone. 门开了 can mean “The door opened” or, in a suitable context, “The door was opened.” If identifying outside action matters, add 被, 让, or another explicit expression: 门被保安打开了 (“The door was opened by the security guard”).

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

被…给… in emphatic speech

Colloquial speech can combine 被 and 给:

• 我被他给骗了。 — I got deceived by him.
• 好好的计划被一场雨给打乱了。 — A perfectly good plan got disrupted by a rainstorm.

Here 给 does not introduce a recipient. It adds spoken emphasis and often highlights an undesirable, surprising, or complete result. The construction is expressive rather than necessary; 我被他骗了 is already complete. Avoid overusing this conversational pattern in formal writing.

Topic-comment structure and disposal sentences

An unmarked passive is easier to understand when viewed as a topic-comment sentence: the speaker first names what the conversation is about, then reports its result. In 作业做完了, 作业 is the topic and 做完了 says what is now true of it. Depending on context, the best English translation may be “The homework is finished,” “The homework has been done,” or even “I’ve finished the homework.” Mandarin does not always encode the same active-passive distinction that English forces a translator to choose.

This also contrasts with the 把 construction, which foregrounds what an agent does to an object:

• 我把作业做完了。 — I finished the homework.
• 作业做完了。 — The homework is finished.
• 作业被我做完了。 — The homework was finished by me.

All three can describe the same completed event, but their discourse focus differs. The 把 sentence highlights the agent’s handling of the object; the unmarked sentence highlights the resulting state; the 被 sentence explicitly presents the object as affected by an agent.

Choosing between 受到 and 被

A 受到 expression is often more idiomatic when the following idea is conventionally treated as an influence, response, or treatment: 受到教育, 受到鼓励, 受到限制, 受到保护. A 被 clause is more flexible when you need tense/aspect detail, a concrete agent, or a fuller action:

• 孩子们受到良好的教育。 — The children receive a good education.
• 孩子们被那位老师认真地教了三年。 — The children were carefully taught by that teacher for three years.

This is not merely a formal-versus-informal substitution. The two sentences organize information differently, and only the second has an agent directly inside a passive construction.

Practice Tips

1. Sort examples by register. Make three lists: conversational (叫/让/给), formal lexical expressions (受到/遭到), and neutral result statements with no marker. Add one sentence you encounter in real media to each list.
2. Transform one event four ways. Start with 他解决了问题 (“He solved the problem”), then compare 问题被他解决了, 问题让他解决了, and 问题解决了. Say what each version foregrounds and which ones fit the context.
3. Learn collocations, not isolated words. Memorize chunks such as 受到欢迎, 受到影响, 遭到拒绝, and 遭到破坏. For spoken passives, practice complete endings such as 偷走了, 打破了, and 花光了.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: 被 Passive — the core marked passive pattern that these alternatives extend and contrast with