被 is the neutral, all-purpose passive marker, but it is not what you hear most in conversation. In everyday speech, three colloquial markers do the same job: 让 (ràng), 叫 (jiào) and 给 (gěi). They carry the same "something was done to the subject" meaning, but they sound casual and spoken — you meet them constantly in dialogue and almost never in a news report or formal document. There is one structural difference that matters enormously: 让 and 叫 normally require the agent to be named, whereas 被 happily drops it. This is the single fact that separates learners who use them right from those who don't.
让 and 叫 need an agent
With 被 you can say 钱包被偷了 and leave the thief unnamed. Swap in 让 or 叫 and the doer must reappear — the marker feels incomplete without it:
我的钱包叫小偷偷走了。
wǒ de qiánbāo jiào xiǎotōu tōu zǒu le
My wallet got stolen by a thief. (informal) — 叫 as a spoken passive; agent 小偷 stated.
出门没带伞，让雨淋了。
chūmén méi dài sǎn, ràng yǔ lín le
Went out without an umbrella and got rained on. (informal) — 让 with the agent 雨.
他叫老板骂了一顿。
tā jiào lǎobǎn mà le yí dùn
He got a real telling-off from the boss. (informal) — agent 老板 named after 叫.
我的自行车让人推倒了。
wǒ de zìxíngchē ràng rén tuī dǎo le
My bike got knocked over by somebody. (informal) — even a vague 人 is enough to satisfy the agent slot.
When you truly don't know or care who did it, don't drop the agent from 让 / 叫 — switch back to 被, which stands alone.
给: the most casual, and the emphatic add-on
给 is the most informal of the three and very common in relaxed speech. It behaves like the others, taking an agent before the verb:
花瓶给孩子打碎了。
huāpíng gěi háizi dǎ suì le
The vase got broken by the kid. (informal) — 给 as a colloquial passive marker.
蛋糕叫弟弟给吃光了。
dàngāo jiào dìdi gěi chī guāng le
The cake got polished off by my little brother. (informal) — 叫 marks the passive; 给 sits right before the verb for extra punch.
That second example shows 给's other life: an emphatic particle placed right before the verb, adding a note of "and it really happened / annoyingly." It stacks on top of 被, 让 or 叫 and doesn't replace them:
我的手机被人给偷了。
wǒ de shǒujī bèi rén gěi tōu le
My phone got stolen — someone actually took it. (informal) — 被…给 frames it, 给 adds exasperation.
杯子让他给打破了。
bēizi ràng tā gěi dǎ pò le
The cup — he went and broke it. (informal) — 让…给, a very colloquial passive.
This emphatic 给 is the same particle discussed on the 把…给 page; both constructions can slip a 给 in front of the verb for flavour.
One event, four markers
Because the four markers share a meaning, the same misfortune can be told four ways — the choice is purely register and emphasis. Take a cup broken by "him":
杯子被他打破了。
bēizi bèi tā dǎ pò le
The cup was broken by him. (neutral/written) — the default, register-safe passive.
杯子让他打破了。
bēizi ràng tā dǎ pò le
The cup got broken by him. (informal) — 让, spoken and casual.
杯子叫他给打破了。
bēizi jiào tā gěi dǎ pò le
The cup — he went and broke it. (informal) — 叫 marks the passive, 给 adds annoyance.
The meaning holds steady; only the flavour moves — from the neutral 被 you'd write, to the exasperated, thoroughly spoken 叫…给 you'd blurt out at home. Master 被 first as your reliable default, then reach for 让 / 叫 / 给 to sound natural in relaxed conversation.
Register, and the causative trap
Keep the register map straight — it decides which marker fits the situation:
| Marker | Register | Agent required? |
|---|---|---|
| 被 | neutral, written, formal | no — can stand alone |
| 让 / 叫 | spoken, casual | yes — name the doer |
| 给 | most informal; also emphatic before the verb | yes (as a passive marker) |
嫌疑人被警方当场抓获。
xiányírén bèi jǐngfāng dāngchǎng zhuāhuò
The suspect was apprehended on the spot by police. (written/news) — a report uses 被, not 让/叫/给.
Common Mistakes
1. Dropping the agent after 让 or 叫. Unlike 被, they need the doer named — or switch to 被.
❌ 我让淋了。
Incomplete — 让 needs an agent; say 让雨淋了, or use 被淋了.
✅ 出门让雨淋了。
chūmén ràng yǔ lín le
Got rained on when I went out. (informal)
2. Leaving the verb bare after 让 / 叫 / 给. Like 被, these markers still need the verb completed.
❌ 花瓶给孩子打。
Incomplete — add the result: 给孩子打碎了.
✅ 花瓶给孩子打碎了。
huāpíng gěi háizi dǎ suì le
The vase got broken by the kid. (informal)
3. Using 让 / 叫 / 给 in formal writing. A report or essay wants neutral 被.
❌ 嫌疑人叫警察抓住了。（新闻里）
Register clash — a news report uses 被: 嫌疑人被警方抓获.
✅ 嫌疑人被警方抓获。
xiányírén bèi jǐngfāng zhuāhuò
The suspect was apprehended by police. (written/news)
Key Takeaways
- 让 / 叫 / 给 are spoken stand-ins for 被 — casual, everyday, rare in formal writing.
- 让 and 叫 normally require an explicit agent (让雨淋了, 叫小偷偷走了); if you have no agent, use 被.
- 给 is the most informal marker, and also an emphatic particle before the verb that stacks on 被 / 让 / 叫 (被雨给淋了).
- Register: 被 is neutral/written; 让 / 叫 / 给 are spoken. Match the marker to the situation.
- 让 / 叫 double as the causative "let / make" — tell passive from causative by whether the subject suffers the action or is made to perform it.
Related Topics
- The 被 PassiveHSK 3 — 被 (bèi) marks the subject as the affected party — the thing something was done TO: 杯子被他打破了 'the cup was broken by him', 我的自行车被偷了 'my bike was stolen'. It needs a completing element like 把 does, carries a flavour of adversity, and is used far less than the English passive.
- Colloquial 把…给…HSK 5 — In casual speech, an optional 给 (gěi) is dropped in right before the verb of a 把 sentence for emphasis — 把杯子给打破了 'went and broke the cup'. This 给 is not 'give'; it adds no recipient, just an exasperated, informal punch, and can always be omitted.
- Causatives: 让 / 叫 / 使 (Make, Let, Cause)HSK 3 — 让, 叫 and 使 turn English 'make', 'let', 'have someone do' and 'cause' into one pivotal pattern — 让 is the everyday default, 叫 is colloquial and order-like, and 使 is formal, reserved for causing feelings and states.
- 口语 vs 书面语 — The Core Register AxisHSK 4 — The central stylistic split in Chinese is 口语 (kǒuyǔ, spoken) vs 书面语 (shūmiànyǔ, written): the same idea has a casual form and a literary form. 现在 (now) vs 目前/如今; 但是 (but) vs 然而. It is not politeness — it is 'get' vs 'obtain'.