1. English and Chinese (Mandarin) Passive Constructions

2. Sentence Structure Mandarin NP1 [recipient] + bei (+ NP2 [agent]) +verb English NP1 [recipient] + be + -ed participle (short passive) NP1 [recipient] + be + -ed participle +by NP2 [agent] (long passive)

3. Use and Function Mandarin Disposal - an entity or person is dealt with Allow affected entity to be NP other than direct object E.g. ta bei ren tou le yi – ge dianhua 3sg BEI person steal PFV one – CL telephone English Not for expressing disposal meaning

4. Use and Function Mandarin Adversity - express an adverse situation Implications of adversity with neutral verbs E.g. ta de xingdong bei ren zhidao le 3sg GEN action BEI person know CRS English Not for expressing adversity

5. Use and Function English Important means of reordering words (meaning not drastically changed) E.g. John bought the mirror The mirror was bought by John. Rare in conversation Too formal More common in academic prose, news

6. Use and Function Short Passive Convenient means for leaving out agent Unknown Redundant E.g. The thief was arrested. Irrelevant

7. Use and Function Long Passive Tendency to place heavy elements towards the end E.g. The suggestion was objected by the whole class of students Subject contains given information and agent contains new information E.g. He found a novel on the shelf and the novel was written by Amy.

8. Use and Function (English) Possible with most transitive verbs Verbs only possible with passive E.g. John was said to be a lazy student. *They said John to be a lazy student.

9. Use and Function Frequency of usage Mandarin passive < English passive Restriction to adversity and disposal in Mandarin Mandarin influenced by English Increasing number of bei constructions not expressing adversity E.g. ta bei xuan zuo huizhang le 3sg BEI elect serve:as chariman PFV

10. Variant Forms Mandarin bei replaced by gei, jiao, rang used in conversation content words with independent meanings jiao and rang cannot replace bei in sentence NP1 bei verb E.g. *wo jiao/rang pian le I cheat PFV

11. Variant Forms (Mandarin) bei replaced by jiao…gei, rang… gei E.g. huaping jiao/rang ta gei dapo le vessel 3sg break PFV strengthen disposal function

12. Variant Forms English be replaced by get E.g. He got cheated.

13. Variant Forms (English) Get Less frequent than be-passive Avoided in formal English Restricted to conversation and colloquial fiction Limited to constructions without an expressed agent E.g. He got discovered. Reflection of unfavorable attitude towards action E.g. Why did the chocolates get eaten?

14. Variant Forms (English) Verbs common with get passive E.g. married, hit, involved, left, stuck E.g. She got married last Sunday. Usually with negative connotations left, hit, stuck E.g. He got left in the dark room.

15. Constraints Common constraints in English and Mandarin passive Verb constraints Active only verbs: copula and intransitive verb E.g. *He is been a boy. E.g. *ta bei shi ge nanhai le 3sg BEI be CL boy PFV E.g. *He was swum. E.g.*ta bei youyong le 3sg BEI swim PFV Stative (middle) verbs: transitive but no sense in passive E.g. * The girl was liked by him. E.g. *na nu haizi bei ta xihuan that female child BEI 3sg like.

16. Constraints (English & Mandarin) Object constraints Coreference between subject and noun phrase object blocks passive correspondence Reflexive pronoun E.g. *Himself was scared by him. E.g. *ziji bei ta long shang le self BEI 3sg make hurt PFV Reciprocal pronoun E.g. * Each other is loved. E.g. * bi ci bei women xiang’ai le each other BEI we reciprocal love PFV

17. Constraints Mandarin Definite subject E.g. na ge beizi bei diaodiao le that CL cup BEI throw away PFV Cannot ends with a verb only (extra element needed) Perfective marker -le: the most common and simplest extra element E.g. ta bei da le 3sg BEI bit PFV

18. Constraints (Mandarin) Only few verbs can occur in passive sentence with adversely affected indirect object tou (steal), qiang (rob), duo (snatch), ying (win) E.g. ta bei ren qiang le shoudai 3sg BEI person rob PFV handbag

19. Constraints (Mandarin) bei NP cannot be an instrument NP used by a person or an animate being E.g. *dianshi bei yaokong chi kai le television BEI remote control open PFV bei NP can be an inanimate NP affecting action on their own if adversity is inferred E.g. yifu bei yushui long shi le clothes BEI rainwater make wet PFV/CRS

20. Constraints (English) Prepositional verbs – figurative use only E.g. This matter will be gone into. E.g.*The tunnel will be gone into. Single-object prepositional verbs E.g. *Tony was looked at by me. Exceptions E.g. Peter can be relied on to repair the car. Object - possessive pronoun E.g. *Her leg was laid by May on the bed. (May laid her leg on the bed)

21. The End