Bị (V.)

Situations

S1: Nam was driving too fast. He was stopped and fined by the police. Cf:

[1a] Cảnh sát phạt Nam.
(The police fined Nam)
[1b] Nam bị cảnh sát phạt.
(Nam was fined by the police.)

In [1b], Nam is the object that undergoes the punishment; in [1a], Nam is the subject receiving punishment from the police.

S2: Nam went to work late. The director decided to dock his salary. Cf:

[2a] Ông giám đốc giảm lương của Nam.
(The director docked Nam's salary.)
[2b] Nam bị (ông giám đốc) giảm lương.
(Nam's salary was docked (by the director).)

In [2b] lương (salary) is the object of the action giảm (to dock), and Nam is the person that undergoes this action. In many cases, the person who does the action may go unmentioned if it is not necessary to complete the meaning (See [1b], [2b]).

S3: Nam has just received his girlfriend's letter. His classmates read it before he did. Cf:

[3a] Bạn cùng lớp đọc thư của Nam.
(Nam's classmates read his letter.)
[3b] Nam bị bạn cùng lớp đọc thư.
(Nam's letter was read by his classmates.)

S4: Only one Vietnamese language dictionary is still in the bookshop. Nam wanted to buy it, but a man took it before he did. He said:

[4] Tôi bị người ta mua sách trước mất rồi.
(The book I wanted to buy had been bought by someone else.)

In the situations S3 and S4, the actions đọc (to read) and mua (to buy) cause unfavorable things for Nam. Thư (letter) is his letter, and sách (book) is a thing in which he is interested. Complementary example:

Tôi bị con khóc suốt đêm nên không ngủ được.
(I could not sleep because my baby cried all night long.)

Tôi đi trễ nên bị người khác chiếm chỗ.
(I was late so my place was occupied by another person.)

S5: Nam is running a 40° C temperature.

[5] Nam bị sốt.
(Nam has a fever.)

S6: Nam was late to buy a first-class ticket. So he had to get a second-class one.

[6] Nam bị ngồi ghế hạng hai.
(Nam had to go second class.)

In the situations S5 and S6, bị is used to express a negative or unfavorable thing that the subject undergoes. In many cases (such as bị bệnh, bị đau, bị chết...), bị can be omitted without changing the main meaning of the sentence.

Definition

Bị, as a verb, is used to express that the subject undergoes something which is done/caused by the object (as an agent), and which is unfavourable to the subject.

  • Bị belongs to the verb group of được, bị, phải that expresses receiving or undergoing something favorable or unfavorable.
  • Cf: được1 (p. 139), phải2 (p. 309), mất (p. 243).

Combinations

  • ... bị + verb + bởi ...: This construction is often used in press and official written texts. Ex.:
[1] Ông ta bị giết bởi ba kẻ lạ mặt.
(He was killed by three strange men.)
[2] Nó bị trừng phạt bởi những lỗi lầm của mình.
(He is punished for his mistakes.)

In the Vietnamese language, a sentence with the verb bị must not always be regarded as a passive sentence. Rather, it is a subject-predicate structure sentence that indicates that the subject undergoes something by someone / something else.

  • For some action verbs the agent and the receiver are reversed when the verb is accompanied with bị: bị giết / giết, bị đánh / đánh, bị phạt / phạt... In this case the sentence structure is changed, with the agent always placed after bị and before the verb.
[3] Anh ấy giết con gấu.
(He killed a bear.)
[4] Anh ấy bị con gấu giết.
(He was killed by a bear.)
  • Some words always preceded by bị, form idiomatic groups, such as: bị đạn, bị tên, bị thương (be wounded)....