畀人

Passive with an Unknown Doer

Level 3Sounds Like bei2 jan4

The 畀人 (bei2 jan4) pattern is the standard way to say something was 'done by someone' in spoken Cantonese. It is most often used for negative or unfortunate events.

How It Works

In spoken Cantonese, the passive marker 畀 (bei2) typically cannot stand alone without an agent. If the agent is unknown, irrelevant, or you simply don't want to name them, you must use the 'dummy agent' 人 (jan4). Note that you will often see the character 俾 used interchangeably with 畀 in this context.

Key Characteristics:

  • Adversative Nuance: This pattern is traditionally used for 'unfortunate' events (e.g., being scolded, robbed, or cheated). While it can be neutral in modern speech, it usually implies the subject was negatively affected.
  • Permissive Ambiguity: Be aware that 畀 (bei2) also functions as a permissive marker meaning 'to let' or 'to allow'. A sentence like 佢畀人打 (keoi5 bei2 jan4 daa2) could mean 'He was hit by someone' (passive) or 'He let people hit him' (permissive). Context is required to distinguish the two.
  • Replacing the Dummy Agent: If you know who performed the action, simply replace 人 (jan4) with the specific person, such as 畀阿媽鬧 (bei2 aa3 maa1 naau6 - scolded by mom).
  • Non-human Unknown Agents: If the unknown doer is an animal or an inanimate object, use 嘢 (je5 - thing) instead of 人, such as 畀嘢咬 (bei2 je5 ngaau5 - bitten by something).
  • Spoken vs. Written: This is strictly for colloquial Cantonese. In formal writing, the marker 被 (bei6) is used, which allows the agent to be omitted entirely.

Examples (4)

  1. 我個銀包畀人偷咗。

    My wallet was stolen (by someone).

    Word by Word: I [possessive] wallet by person steal [completed].

    Here, 畀人 (bei2 jan4) indicates the wallet was stolen by an unknown person. The aspect marker 咗 (zo2) usually shows the action is finished.

  2. 佢尋日畀人鬧咗一餐。

    He was scolded (by someone) yesterday.

    Word by Word: He yesterday by person scold [completed] one meal.

    鬧 (naau6) means to scold. Since this refers to a specific past event, we add 咗 (zo2) and the verbal classifier 一餐 (jat1 caan1) to complete the action.

  3. 小心啲呀，費事畀人呃。

    Be careful, lest you get cheated.

    Word by Word: Small heart a-bit [particle], avoid by person cheat.

    呃 (ngaak1) means to cheat or trick. 畀人 is used here because the specific 'cheater' isn't known yet; it refers to people in general.

  4. 啲筷子畀人用咗。

    The chopsticks were used (by someone).

    Word by Word: [Plural] chopsticks by person use [completed].

    This is a more neutral example. Even though it's not a 'disaster,' it still implies a slight inconvenience or change of state.

Common Mistakes

  • Omitting the 'dummy agent' (人).

    我個銀包畀偷咗。
    我個銀包畀人偷咗。

    Unlike English ('was stolen') or Mandarin ('被偷了'), spoken Cantonese requires the agent slot to be filled. If you don't know who did it, you must include 人 (jan4).

  • Using the formal written passive marker 被 (bei6) in spoken Cantonese.

    Different Meaning我個銀包被偷咗。
    我個銀包畀人偷咗。

    In spoken Cantonese, 被 (bei6) sounds highly unnatural and overly formal. Always use 畀人 (bei2 jan4) or 畀 (bei2) + specific agent for passive sentences in everyday speech.

How It Connects

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畀人Level 3Passive with an Unknown Doer

Learn This First

To understand '畀人', you first need to understand the basic passive construction using '畀'. Since Cantonese passive sentences require an agent to be mentioned, the word '人' (person/someone) is used as a placeholder when the specific doer is unknown or irrelevant.

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畀人