Kilo Lingo

(bèi) - by (passive marker) in Mandarin

bèi

Traditional: 被

Line drawing of 被
Coloured illustration of 被
HSK 3
#59 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

by (passive marker)

Word origin

被 is a phono-semantic compound: the clothing radical 衤indicates its original meaning of a quilt or covering, while 皮 (pí) supplies the sound. It was later borrowed to mark the passive voice.

Origin
phono-semantic compound
Root
衤(clothing radical) + 皮 (pí, phonetic)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 被

Examples

dùn

He was told off by his boss.

The wallet was stolen by someone.

This song is liked by many people.

The cup was broken by my younger brother.

He was called to the office by the teacher.

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 2.