How to use 给
Affected Subject + 给 + Doer + Verb Phrase; Affected Subject + 被 + Doer + 给 + Verb Phrase
给 can mark a passive relationship in conversational Chinese. The affected person or thing appears first, followed by 给, the doer, and the action. Context makes clear that the opening participant receives the effect rather than performing the action. These sentences often describe unwanted outcomes and commonly include a result or other detail in the predicate.
给 can also appear before the verb in a passive sentence already introduced by 被. In that position it adds a colloquial emphatic quality rather than introducing a second recipient. Keep these patterns distinct from ordinary beneficiary 给 before an action. The same character serves different grammatical roles, so identify who does the action and who is affected before interpreting it.
Examples with pinyin and English
我给他骗了。
I got scammed by him.
这么好的机会给你浪费了。
Such a great opportunity has been wasted by you.
菜都给你们吃完了吗？
All the food has been finished off by you guys?
孩子都给你宠坏了。
That kid is totally spoiled by you.
What to remember
- Passive 给 is strongly conversational.
- The affected participant comes first.
- 被 and preverbal 给 can occur together.
Practise the pattern
Practise this topic with the app’s grammar exercises. Your answers and review dates are saved separately from vocabulary practice.
Practise this grammar topic ↗Look up the grammar words
Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.