Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

Comparing Preverbal gei (给) and bei (被) in Mandarin Transitive Patient-Subject Constructions

Min ZhangZhejiang University*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

This paper examines preverbal gei (给) in a restricted empirical domain: prototypical transitive patient-subject constructions in Mandarin. It asks how gei (给) compares with bei (被) in this domain. I argue that it patterns with bei (被) in the core environments examined here. In these environments, gei (给) combines with transitive predicates, may be followed by an overt post-marker source phrase, and supports agent-oriented modification such as guyi (故意) 'deliberately'. Earlier descriptions also suggest that passive gei (给) is distributionally narrower, stylistically more colloquial, and especially natural with transparent resultative predicates and clearly affected patients. The conclusion advanced here is therefore limited: in the transitive patient-subject domain examined in this paper, the evidence supports treating preverbal gei (给) as a passive marker in Mandarin, although a more restricted one than bei (被).

Keywords: preverbal gei (给); bei (被); passive marker; patient-subject constructions
Published: April 28, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.32989
Volume: CHR Vol.107
pp. 90-96
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