ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY
被
by (passive); quilt
bèi
10 strokes · 衤 (clothing) + 皮 (skin, sound) · HSK 3
Where 被 comes from
Originally a quilt — cloth 衤 that covers you like a skin 皮. Lying under it, you're acted upon — so 被 became the passive marker: things done TO you.
被 in Chinese culture
被 builds every passive sentence: 蛋糕被吃了 'the cake got eaten'. Internet Chinese turned it dark-comic: 被自愿 'voluntarily-ed' (forced to volunteer). The quilt meaning survives in 被子.
Example
被子 bèizi — quilt
我的蛋糕被弟弟吃了。
Wǒ de dàngāo bèi dìdi chī le.
My cake was eaten by my little brother.
How to remember it
Under the QUILT, things happen TO you — the passive voice.
被 sentences often carry a whiff of misfortune — classic grammar books say the 'passive of adversity'.
Same sound, different tones
Words unlocked by 被
被子 bèizi
quilt
被动 bèidòng
passive
Related characters
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