Meaning of 被
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- quilt
- to cover (with)
- (literary) to suffer (a misfortune)
- used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, if the doer is not mentioned, before the verb)
- (since c. 2009) (sarcastic or jocular) used to indicate that the following word should be regarded as being in air quotes (as in 被旅遊|被旅游[bei4 lu : 3 you2] to "go on a trip")
How to use 被
As a preposition, 被 marks the passive voice. It comes before the doer, or straight before the verb if no doer is mentioned. It often carries a sense of something unwanted happening. Example: 我的手机被偷了。(Wǒ de shǒujī bèi tōu le.) My phone was stolen.
被 combines the clothing radical 衤 with 皮 (pí, skin), so picture cloth laid over your skin like a quilt. A quilt covers you and things happen to you under it, which helps you remember 被 as the marker for something being done to you.
Common mistake: Learners often write the left side as 礻 (the spirit radical, as in 礼) instead of 衤, which has an extra short stroke. Another trap is ending a 被 sentence with a bare verb. Say 他被骂了 (tā bèi mà le), not 他被骂.
被 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
被 bèi · quilt · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 被.
| 被子 | bèizi | blanket; quilt |
| 被迫 | bèipò | to be compelled; to be forced |
| 被动 | bèidòng | passive |
| 被告 | bèigào | (law) the defendant; the accused |
| 被捕 | bèibǔ | to be arrested; under arrest |
| 被困 | bèikùn | to be trapped; to be stranded |
| 被害人 | bèihàirén | victim |
| 被控 | bèikòng | to be charged; to be accused (of an offense) |
| 被害者 | bèihàizhě | victim (of a wounding or murder) |
| 被告人 | bèigàorén | defendant (in legal case) |
| 被窝 | bèiwō | (traditional bedding) quilt wrapped around the body as a tube; (contemporary) bedding; bed |
| 被单 | bèidān | (bed) sheet; envelope for a padded coverlet |
Questions about 被
What does 被 mean?
被 (bèi) means "quilt; to cover (with)" and is used as a preposition.
How do you write 被?
被 is made of 1 character: 被 (10 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.
Is 被 an HSK word?
Yes. 被 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 被 and 把?
把 (bǎ) puts the object before the verb and keeps the doer as the subject, as in 他把杯子打破了. 被 makes the receiver the subject, as in 杯子被他打破了. Both describe an action with a result.
Can 被 be used for positive things?
Traditionally 被 is used mostly for unpleasant events, but modern Chinese also allows neutral or positive ones, such as 他被选为班长 (he was elected class monitor). In casual speech, many passive ideas are expressed without 被 at all, or with 叫 (jiào) or 让 (ràng).