Breakdown of Bức tranh được tạo bởi họa sĩ này.
này
this
được
(passive marker)
bởi
by (in a passive clause)
tạo
to create
Questions & Answers about Bức tranh được tạo bởi họa sĩ này.
What does bức do in bức tranh?
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
Why is được used here?
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.
Is this a passive sentence?