HSK 3
把、被、叫、让
bǎ 、 bèi 、 jiào 、 ràng
Disposal and passive structures: 把, 被, 叫, 让
Explanation
These are prepositions that help introduce the agent causing an effect or the object being affected. 把 bǎ forms the 把-construction (a special sentence type using 把 to emphasize how the object - the target of the action - is dealt with); 被 bèi / 叫 jiào / 让 ràng form the 被 (passive) construction (a passive sentence type - the subject is acted upon by the action).
Active sentence emphasizing handling: Subject + 把 bǎ + object + verb + other element (我把手机放在书包里 - I put the phone in the backpack). Passive sentence: Subject (affected) + 被/叫/让 bèi/jiào/ràng + agent + verb + other element (裙子被我弄脏了 - the skirt was made dirty by me).
Use 把 when you want to emphasize how a specific object is handled. Use 被/叫/让 when you want to say the subject is acted upon by the action. 叫 jiào and 让 ràng have a colloquial flavor and require the doer to be stated explicitly; 被 bèi is more formal and can omit the doer (被弄脏了).
把 bǎ looks at it from the ACTIVE doer's side; 被/叫/让 look at it from the PASSIVE recipient's side. The same event: 我把裙子弄脏了 (active) = 裙子被我弄脏了 (passive).
After the verb in a 把 sentence and a 被 sentence there must be another element (a result, 了, a destination...); the verb cannot stand bare - wrong: 裙子被我弄; correct: 裙子被我弄脏了. Also, passive 叫/让 must state the agent and cannot omit it.
Besides marking the passive, 叫 jiào also means "to call" (叫名字 - call a name) and 让 ràng also means "to yield, to tell, to let" (让座 - give up one's seat).
Examples
I saw you put your phone in your backpack.
The skirt got dirty because of me.
The phone got broken because of me.
My car was borrowed by a friend.
Practice
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Learn “把、被、叫、让” effectively
The grammar point “把、被、叫、让” (Disposal and passive structures: 把, 被, 叫, 让) is one of the key structures at HSK 3. To use it fluently, you need to understand the contexts where it's used and practice regularly.
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