A passive presents an affected participant as the subject.
Introductory pattern#
Affected participant + 被 + agent + predicate
Worked teaching example#
这封信被他拿走了。
This letter was taken away by him.
Practise the distinction#
Compare 他拿走了这封信: He took away this letter. Identify the same event and the different starting point.
The example and exercise are newly written for this lesson. They do not report an event, interview or study. This introduction covers the displayed use, rather than all constructions involving the same words.
Reference#
Grammar reference. The reference supports the grammar point; no example sentence has been copied from it.