Điện thoại bị lỗi; gói hàng bị hư hỏng.

Here, bị marks that something is affected by a bad or unwanted situation.

• điện thoại bị lỗi = the phone has a defect / the phone is faulty
• gói hàng bị hư hỏng = the package is damaged

A very common pattern is:

Noun + bị + problem/state

It often suggests that the result is negative, inconvenient, or undesirable.

Not exactly, but it often overlaps with it.

In English, you might translate bị phrases with a passive:

• gói hàng bị hư hỏng → the package was damaged

But in Vietnamese, bị is not just a mechanical passive marker. It also often carries the idea that something unfortunate happened to the subject.

So:

• bị = often passive-like + negative effect

That is why learners are often told:

• bị for unpleasant results
• được for beneficial results

For example:

• Tôi bị mất ví. = I lost my wallet / My wallet got lost
• Tôi được khen. = I was praised

Because these are two separate clauses:

• Điện thoại bị lỗi
• gói hàng bị hư hỏng

Each clause needs its own structure. Repeating bị makes the sentence clear and natural.

You could think of the semicolon as joining two complete mini-sentences:

• The phone is faulty; the package is damaged.

They are related, but not the same.

lỗi

Usually means:

• a fault
• a defect
• an error
• a bug (especially in software or electronics)

So điện thoại bị lỗi often suggests:

• the phone has a defect
• the phone is malfunctioning
• the phone has some technical problem

hư hỏng

Usually means:

• damaged
• broken
• spoiled
• physically or functionally damaged

So gói hàng bị hư hỏng suggests:

• the package got damaged, probably in shipping or handling

In short:

• lỗi = a fault/problem
• hư hỏng = damage/breakage

Yes, but the meaning shifts a little.

• Điện thoại hỏng = The phone is broken
• Điện thoại bị lỗi = The phone is faulty / has a defect

hỏng usually sounds more like something no longer works properly. lỗi often suggests a defect, bug, or technical fault, and sometimes the item may still partly work.

So they are similar, but not identical.

These words are close in meaning.

hư

Can mean:

• damaged
• spoiled
• broken

Examples:

• Đồ ăn bị hư. = The food went bad.
• Máy bị hư. = The machine is broken.

hỏng

Also means:

• broken
• not working

Examples:

• Xe hỏng rồi. = The vehicle is broken.

hư hỏng

A slightly fuller, more formal-sounding expression meaning:

• damaged
• in a state of damage
• broken/spoiled

For a package, bị hư hỏng is very natural because it sounds a bit formal and is common in delivery, customer service, and written complaints.

In Vietnamese, word classes are often flexible, so it can behave like either depending on the sentence.

In gói hàng bị hư hỏng, you can understand hư hỏng as the damaged state affecting the package.

English learners often want a strict label, but in Vietnamese it is often more useful to learn the whole pattern:

• bị hư hỏng = to be damaged

So in practice, just treat bị hư hỏng as a set phrase meaning was damaged / is damaged.

Vietnamese does not use articles like English a/an/the, and nouns do not change form for plural.

So:

• điện thoại can mean phone, the phone, or phones
• gói hàng can mean package, the package, or packages

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, because the meaning is already understood from context, Vietnamese does not need extra marking.

Usually gói hàng means the package/parc el/shipment as a packaged item.

• gói = a wrapped bundle/package
• hàng = goods/merchandise

Together, gói hàng is a very common way to say package in delivery or shopping contexts.

Depending on context, damage to the gói hàng may refer to:

• the outer package
• the shipment as a whole
• sometimes implicitly the contents too

The semicolon separates two closely related independent clauses:

• Điện thoại bị lỗi
• gói hàng bị hư hỏng

It works like:

• The phone is faulty; the package is damaged.

In everyday writing, many people would also use a comma or even make them two separate sentences. The semicolon just gives a slightly more formal written feel.

Sometimes yes, but not necessarily.

With bị, Vietnamese often focuses on the affected thing and the negative result, without needing to name the cause.

So:

• gói hàng bị hư hỏng could mean the package was damaged
• but it does not say exactly who or what damaged it

The cause might be:

• shipping
• poor handling
• manufacturing issues
• an accident

If you want to name the cause, you would add more words.

Yes, it is natural, especially in customer-service, product, shipping, or complaint contexts.

It sounds a bit neutral-to-formal because of words like:

• bị lỗi
• bị hư hỏng

In casual speech, people might also say:

• Điện thoại bị lỗi, gói hàng bị hỏng.
• Điện thoại lỗi rồi, gói hàng bị hư rồi.

Your original sentence sounds especially suitable for written reports, support messages, or order issues.

A very useful pattern is:

[thing] + bị + [negative condition/problem]

Examples:

• Máy tính bị lỗi. = The computer has a problem.
• Xe bị hỏng. = The vehicle is broken.
• Gói hàng bị thất lạc. = The package was lost.
• Sản phẩm bị hư hỏng. = The product is damaged.

This pattern is extremely common and worth memorizing.