Chinese Grammar: Lesson: Using 受 in a passive sentence

Bet you guys haven't forgotten how to use the passive sentence pattern with 被? Also known as 被 字句, this pattern is frequently used in daily life when speaking at the passive voice. Today we’re going further into the passive voice world by learning how to use the word 受 as a passive marker.

Rules

You won't find 受 to be not as common as 被 to form the passive voice. However, there are situations where its use is pretty natural and once you start spotting where, you'll quickly get a feel for when to use it.

受 means 'to obtain' or 'to receive' when dealing with positive aspects, or 'to suffer' when dealing with negative aspects. It conveys this meaning to the verb, placed after it, and converts the verb to the passive form.

As such, it's preferred to speak in a passive voice. We’ll show you how in examples.

Structure

受 + (People/Thing) + Verb

Examples

他 很受欢迎。(to be welcomed)
He is very welcomed by others.

老师 是一 个受人 尊重 的 职业。(to be respected)
(Being a) Teacher is a respected job.

因为 迟到 ， 他 不得不受罚。(to be punished)
Due to him being late, he had to be punished.

这几天 好 热 ， 太受罪 了！(to be suffering)
It’s so hot these days; I’m suffering a lot!

她 学习 成绩 一直 很 好，受到了 老师 的 表扬。(to be praised)
She always gets good grades and is praised by her teacher.

受批评 不要紧 ， 重要 的 是 要 及时 改正。(to be criticized)
It doesn't matter if one is criticized, the most important is to correct one's faults in time.

不要受他 干扰，专心 学习！(to be bothered)
Don’t be bothered by him, concentrate on your studies!

我 很 容易受别人 影响。(to be influenced)
I’m easily influenced by others.

这个 孩子 很 可怜 ， 既受冻 又 受 饿。(to be frozen - to be starved)
This kid is poor; he is both frozen and starved.

You can also use 受's positive form to express to be welcomed. To do so, just add a 到 after 受欢迎, for example, 他 受到 大家 的 欢迎。He receives people’s welcome.