Passive with 叫/让
叫/让 passive
叫 and 让 can be used to form passive sentences, similar to 被, but with a more colloquial and spoken tone, often implying that the event was undesirable or beyond the subject's control.
Pattern
Subject + 叫/让 + Agent + Verb + Complement/了
Explanation
In addition to 被, Chinese uses 叫 and 让 to form passive constructions. The structure is the same: Subject + 叫/让 + Agent + Verb + Other Elements. These passive forms are more colloquial than 被 and are very common in spoken Chinese, especially in northern dialects.
Like the 被 passive, the 叫/让 passive often conveys that something unfortunate or undesirable happened to the subject. The subject is the one affected by the action, not the one performing it. The agent (the doer) can be omitted with 被, but with 叫 and 让, the agent is usually kept.
The three passive markers (被, 叫, 让) are largely interchangeable in passive sentences, but there are register differences. 被 is the most versatile and can be used in all registers. 叫 and 让 are primarily spoken and informal. In formal writing, prefer 被. Also note that 让 and 叫 have other primary meanings (让 = let/allow; 叫 = call/tell), so context determines whether they are functioning as passive markers.
Examples
我的手机让小偷偷走了。
Wǒ de shǒujī ràng xiǎotōu tōu zǒu le.
My phone was stolen by a thief.
蛋糕叫孩子们吃完了。
Dàngāo jiào háizimen chī wán le.
The cake was eaten up by the children.
那本书让他借走了。
Nà běn shū ràng tā jiè zǒu le.
That book was borrowed by him.
杯子叫我不小心打碎了。
Bēizi jiào wǒ bù xiǎoxīn dǎ suì le.
The cup was accidentally broken by me.
衣服让雨淋湿了。
Yīfú ràng yǔ lín shī le.
The clothes were soaked by the rain.
Common Mistakes
Wrong
我让去了商店。
Correct
我被/让他叫去了商店。
In a passive with 叫/让, you typically need to include the agent (the person or thing doing the action).
Wrong
那本书让他借走。
Correct
那本书让他借走了。
Passive sentences with 叫/让 usually require a result complement or 了 after the verb to indicate the completed impact on the subject.
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