English and Chinese (Mandarin) Passive Constructions
Feb 05, 2016
English and Chinese (Mandarin) Passive Constructions
Sentence Structure Mandarin
NP1 [recipient] + bei (+ NP2 [agent]) +verb English
NP1 [recipient] + be + -ed participle (short passive)
NP1 [recipient] + be + -ed participle +by NP2 [agent] (long passive)
Use and Function Mandarin
Disposal - an entity or person is dealt with Allow affected entity to be NP other than direct ob
ject E.g. ta bei ren tou le yi – ge dianhua
3sg BEI person steal PFV one – CL telephone
English Not for expressing disposal meaning
Use and Function Mandarin
Adversity - express an adverse situation Implications of adversity with neutral verbs
E.g. ta de xingdong bei ren zhidao le
3sg GEN action BEI person know CRS
English Not for expressing adversity
Use and Function English
Important means of reordering words (meaning not drastically changed) E.g. John bought the mirror
The mirror was bought by John.
Rare in conversation Too formal
More common in academic prose, news
Use and Function Short Passive
Convenient means for leaving out agent Unknown Redundant
E.g. The thief was arrested.
Irrelevant
Use and Function Long Passive
Tendency to place heavy elements towards the end E.g. The suggestion was objected by the whole
class of students
Subject contains given information and agent contains new information E.g. He found a novel on the shelf and the novel
was written by Amy.
Use and Function (English) Possible with most transitive verbs Verbs only possible with passive
E.g. John was said to be a lazy student.
*They said John to be a lazy student.
Use and Function Frequency of usage
Mandarin passive < English passive Restriction to adversity and disposal in Mandarin
Mandarin influenced by English Increasing number of bei constructions not ex
pressing adversity E.g. ta bei xuan zuo huizhang le
3sg BEI elect serve:as chariman PFV
Variant Forms Mandarin
bei replaced by gei, jiao, rang used in conversation content words with independent meanings jiao and rang
cannot replace bei in sentence NP1 bei verb E.g. *wo jiao/rang pian le
I cheat PFV
Variant Forms (Mandarin) bei replaced by jiao…gei, rang… gei
E.g. huaping jiao/rang ta gei dapo le vessel 3sg brea
k PFV
strengthen disposal function
Variant Forms English
be replaced by get E.g. He got cheated.
Variant Forms (English) Get
Less frequent than be-passive Avoided in formal English Restricted to conversation and colloquial fiction Limited to constructions without an expressed agent
E.g. He got discovered.
Reflection of unfavorable attitude towards action E.g. Why did the chocolates get eaten?
Variant Forms (English) Verbs common with get passive
E.g. married, hit, involved, left, stuck E.g. She got married last Sunday.
Usually with negative connotations left, hit, stuck
E.g. He got left in the dark room.
Constraints Common constraints in English and Mandarin passive
Verb constraints Active only verbs: copula and intransitive verb
E.g. *He is been a boy. E.g. *ta bei shi ge nanhai le
3sg BEI be CL boy PFV E.g. *He was swum. E.g.*ta bei youyong le
3sg BEI swim PFV Stative (middle) verbs: transitive but no sense in passive
E.g. * The girl was liked by him. E.g. *na nu haizi bei ta xihuan
that female child BEI 3sg like.
Constraints (English & Mandarin) Object constraints
Coreference between subject and noun phrase object blocks passive correspondence Reflexive pronoun
E.g. *Himself was scared by him. E.g. *ziji bei ta long shang le
self BEI 3sg make hurt PFV Reciprocal pronoun
E.g. * Each other is loved. E.g. * bi ci bei women xiang’ai le
each other BEI we reciprocal love PFV
Constraints Mandarin
Definite subject E.g. na ge beizi bei diaodiao le
that CL cup BEI throw away PFV
Cannot ends with a verb only (extra element needed) Perfective marker -le: the most common and simples
t extra element E.g. ta bei da le 3sg BEI bit PFV
Constraints (Mandarin) Only few verbs can occur in passive senten
ce with adversely affected indirect object tou (steal), qiang (rob), duo (snatch), ying (wi
n) E.g. ta bei ren qiang le shoudai
3sg BEI person rob PFV handbag
Constraints (Mandarin) bei NP cannot be an instrument NP used by a pers
on or an animate being E.g. *dianshi bei yaokong chi kai le
television BEI remote control open PFV
bei NP can be an inanimate NP affecting action on their own if adversity is inferred E.g. yifu bei yushui long shi le
clothes BEI rainwater make wet PFV/CRS
Constraints (English) Prepositional verbs – figurative use only
E.g. This matter will be gone into. E.g.*The tunnel will be gone into.
Single-object prepositional verbs E.g. *Tony was looked at by me. Exceptions
E.g. Peter can be relied on to repair the car.
Object - possessive pronoun E.g. *Her leg was laid by May on the bed.
(May laid her leg on the bed)
The End