Bức tranh được tạo bởi họa sĩ này.

Bức is a classifier for flat visual objects such as pictures, paintings, drawings, and posters.

So:

• tranh = painting / picture
• bức tranh = a painting / the painting

In Vietnamese, classifiers are very common when talking about nouns, especially when the noun is specific. A learner may first think bức means something like piece in English, and that is not a bad way to remember it.

For example:

• một bức tranh = a painting
• bức tranh này = this painting

In this sentence, được helps form a passive meaning.

• tạo = create
• được tạo = be created / was created

So:

• Bức tranh được tạo bởi họa sĩ này. = The painting was created by this artist.

A very important note: được can also mean receive / get in other contexts, but here it is not being used that way. Here it is a grammatical marker showing that the painting is the thing affected by the action.

Yes. This is a passive-style sentence.

The active version would be:

• Họa sĩ này tạo bức tranh. = This artist created the painting.

The passive version switches the focus to the painting:

• Bức tranh được tạo bởi họa sĩ này. = The painting was created by this artist.

Vietnamese does not always need a passive structure as often as English does, but được is a common way to make that meaning clear.

Bởi means by, introducing the agent in a passive sentence.

So:

• được tạo bởi họa sĩ này = created by this artist

This is similar to English by in was created by this artist.

However, in everyday Vietnamese, bởi can sound somewhat formal or written. In many situations, speakers may use do instead:

• Bức tranh được tạo do họa sĩ này.

But that version is still not the most natural everyday sentence for many speakers. More natural alternatives might be:

• Bức tranh này do họa sĩ này tạo ra.
• Bức tranh này được họa sĩ này tạo ra.

So bởi is correct, but it can feel a bit formal.

In Vietnamese, demonstratives like này (this) usually come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• họa sĩ này = this artist
• bức tranh này = this painting

This is one of the most important word-order differences from English.

Compare:

• English: this artist
• Vietnamese: họa sĩ này

The same pattern appears with many nouns:

• người này = this person
• cuốn sách này = this book
• ngôi nhà này = this house

Họa sĩ most specifically means painter or visual artist, especially someone who paints.

Depending on context, it may be translated as:

• painter
• artist

In this sentence, because the object is bức tranh (painting), translating họa sĩ as painter is especially natural.

Yes, and in many contexts vẽ might sound more natural.

• tạo = create
• vẽ = draw / paint

Since a painting is usually painted, many learners would expect:

• Bức tranh này được vẽ bởi họa sĩ này. = This painting was painted by this artist.

The original sentence with tạo is still understandable and grammatical, but it can sound a bit more general or abstract, like focusing on the act of creation rather than the physical painting process.

So:

• tạo = broader, more general
• vẽ = more specific to drawing/painting

Vietnamese does not have articles like English a, an, and the.

So bức tranh can mean:

• a painting
• the painting

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English will often translate it as the painting because the sentence sounds like it is referring to a specific painting already known in the conversation.

If you want to make it clearly indefinite, Vietnamese often relies on words like một:

• một bức tranh = a painting

It is grammatical and understandable, but it may sound a bit formal or less natural in everyday speech.

More natural alternatives could be:

• Bức tranh này do họa sĩ này vẽ.
• Bức tranh này được họa sĩ này vẽ.
• Bức tranh này do họa sĩ này tạo ra.

Why?

1. bởi is somewhat formal.
2. tạo is possible, but vẽ often fits a painting better.
3. Adding này after bức tranh can make the sentence feel more complete if you mean this painting.

So the original sentence is fine for learning grammar, especially passive structure, but it is not necessarily the most everyday phrasing.

The structure is:

• Bức tranh = the painting
• được tạo = was created
• bởi họa sĩ này = by this artist

So the pattern is:

Subject + passive marker + verb + by-phrase

More abstractly:

Noun + được + verb + bởi + agent

This is fairly close to English passive structure:

• The painting
  • was created
    • by this artist

That is one reason this sentence is useful for English speakers: the overall logic is familiar, even though some details, like classifiers and post-noun này, are different.

Yes. In Vietnamese, được often carries a positive or favorable sense in some passive-like sentences.

For example:

• Tôi được khen. = I was praised.
• Cô ấy được mời. = She was invited.

In those cases, được can suggest something beneficial.

But in Bức tranh được tạo bởi họa sĩ này, được is mainly functioning as a passive marker. There is no strong positive feeling built into it here. It mostly just means was created.

Yes, but the meaning or emphasis would change slightly.

For example:

• Bức tranh do họa sĩ này tạo ra.

This still means something like The painting was created by this artist or This artist is the one who created the painting.

Vietnamese often does not need an explicit passive marker when context already makes the relationship clear. So compared with English, passive meaning can sometimes be expressed more flexibly.

That said, được makes the passive reading especially clear for learners:

• được tạo = be created / was created

Because in the original sentence, only the artist is explicitly marked as this artist.

• họa sĩ này = this artist
• bức tranh = the painting / a painting, depending on context

If you also want to say this painting, you would say:

• Bức tranh này được tạo bởi họa sĩ này.

That means:

• This painting was created by this artist.

So the original sentence is specifically pointing out this artist, not necessarily this painting.