Agentless 被 Passive in Chinese
被字句（省略施事）
A 被 passive may omit the agent when it is unknown, unimportant, obvious, or deliberately backgrounded. The patient remains the subject, and the verb phrase states what happened to it, usually with a result, direction, aspect marker, or other completion. This pattern differs from an active patient-initial sentence that has no overt passive marker.
Published August 3, 2026
Reviewed August 3, 2026
01 / PATTERN
See the Structure
MODEL
Patient Subject + 被 + Verb + Other Material
Read the structure
A 被 passive may omit the agent when it is unknown, unimportant, obvious, or deliberately backgrounded. The patient remains the subject, and the verb phrase states what happened to it, usually with a result, direction, aspect marker, or other completion. This pattern differs from an active patient-initial sentence that has no overt passive marker. Keep the model Patient Subject + 被 + Verb + Other Material visible while you compare each sentence.
王老师被请去开会了。
Teacher Wang was invited to attend a meeting.
Choose the right context
Focus on the affected patient rather than the actor. Omit an agent that is unknown or irrelevant. Report a completed or resulting change to a definite patient.
教室的灯早就被关上了。
The classroom light was turned off long ago.
Respect the boundary
Do not place time or negation after 被 when it scopes over the passive. Do not reverse 被 and the following verb. Do not leave the passive predicate as an unsupported bare verb.
教室的灯被早就关上了。
(The classroom light was long ago turned off.)
Repair the pattern
The time phrase is placed inside the passive marker and verb: The time adverb 早就 scopes over the passive and therefore precedes 被. The passive marker follows its verb: 被 must introduce the passive predicate, so it precedes the compound 买走.
教室的灯早就被关上了。
Use the repaired structure without changing the intended meaning.
02 / MAP
Read the Sentence
Read from left to right and notice the job performed by each part. The labels describe this example; they are not a rule that every Chinese sentence must copy.
王老师被请去开会了。
Teacher Wang was invited to attend a meeting.
王
Patient Subject
This part occupies the Patient Subject position in the model pattern.
老师
被
This part occupies the 被 position in the model pattern.
被
Verb
This part occupies the Verb position in the model pattern.
请去
Other Material
This part occupies the Other Material position in the model pattern.
开会
Patient Subject
This part occupies the Patient Subject position in the model pattern.
了
被
This part occupies the 被 position in the model pattern.
03 / EXAMPLES
Examples You Can Reuse
Keep the structure stable while changing the people, objects, times, or conditions. Pinyin is shown as reading support; use the Chinese sentence and translation to confirm the grammar relationship.
王老师被请去开会了。
Teacher Wang was invited to attend a meeting.
教室的灯早就被关上了。
The classroom light was turned off long ago.
那张画儿被买走了。
That painting was bought and taken away.
04 / LIMITS
When to Use It — and When Not To
Use it when
- Focus on the affected patient rather than the actor.
- Omit an agent that is unknown or irrelevant.
- Report a completed or resulting change to a definite patient.
Do not use it when
- Do not place time or negation after 被 when it scopes over the passive.
- Do not reverse 被 and the following verb.
- Do not leave the passive predicate as an unsupported bare verb.
05 / REPAIR
Compare Right and Wrong
Compare the smallest meaningful change. Each explanation identifies a placement, scope, form, or clause relationship instead of treating the whole sentence as one undifferentiated mistake.
教室的灯被早就关上了。
教室的灯早就被关上了。
The time phrase is placed inside the passive marker and verb
The time adverb 早就 scopes over the passive and therefore precedes 被.
那张画儿买被走了。
那张画儿被买走了。
The passive marker follows its verb
被 must introduce the passive predicate, so it precedes the compound 买走.
教室的灯被早就关上了。
The time adverb 早就 scopes over the passive and therefore precedes 被.
那张画儿买被走了。
被 must introduce the passive predicate, so it precedes the compound 买走.
06 / PRACTICE
Practice the Grammar Point
Complete three short tasks in order: judge the pattern, repair a common error, and build the sentence. Feedback is fixed and reviewed, so these activities do not use a checker allowance.
1. Judge the sentence
2. Choose the correction
3. Build the sentence
Build a complete sentence with 被字句（省略施事）.
07 / APPLY
Apply It in Your Sentence
Write one original sentence with 被字句（省略施事）. Your draft moves to the checker through this browser session, selects this grammar point as the first review focus, and waits for you to submit.
08 / QUESTIONS
Agentless 被 Passive Questions
Must 被 always be followed by an agent?
No. 被 can directly precede the verb when the agent is omitted; 叫 and 让 normally require an expressed agent in their ordinary passive use.
Do agentless passives always describe something bad?
No. Unfavorable events are common, but the construction itself can report neutral or favorable affected events as well.
09 / SOURCES
Sources and Review Notes
These references support different parts of the lesson. GF0025-2021 supports level placement only; professional grammar works support the explanation, limits, examples, and cross-checks. Their inclusion does not imply endorsement.
Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education (GF0025-2021)
Ministry of Education and State Language Commission · Ministry of Education of the PRC · 2021
Locator: Appendix A, Level 4 item 【四39】, PDF p. 216 (printed p. 210)
Places the agentless 被 passive at Level 4 with result and directional material after the verb.
Official source现代汉语语法课程讲义
包头师范学院 · 包头师范学院 · 2024
Locator: 几种动词谓语句, 被字句, pp. 46–47
Defines patient-subject passives, permits 被 without an expressed agent, and states predicate and adverb-order constraints.
Official source10 / CONTINUE
Continue with a Connected Rule
Continue learning
被The 被 (bèi) Passive
Place the omitted-agent subtype inside the broader patient-focused 被 passive system.
Easy to confuse
意念被动句Notional Passive without 被
Both can omit an agent, but the notional passive also omits the explicit marker 被.
Compare
受事主语Patient-Initial Clauses
A patient may lead an active-shaped clause without 被, unlike this explicitly marked passive.
Learn first
完/到/见Result Complements (完/到/见)
A clear result commonly completes what happened to the patient after the passive marker.
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Continue learning
Place the omitted-agent subtype inside the broader patient-focused 被 passive system.