patterns

[Scoobyqueen]

I am just going through some notes and found 被。。所, a passive construct in which 所 precedes the verb. However, I am not sure if this construct exist or if my notes should have said 为。。所.

Can anyone help?

[anonymoose]

There seem to be enough examples on Google of 被__所___.

[Scoobyqueen]

I am not sure if this google search confirms that this is a grammatical construct.

[leeyah]

Yes, they are the same：被...所+动词 = 为... 所+动词.

The construction with 所 is used for emphasis, and the verb following 所 is usually a 双音节:

被/为坏人所利用

被/为事实所证明

But not always:

被风雪所阻

被酷热所苦

不被/为人所知

(sources: 《HSK 常用虚词例释》,《现代汉语八百词》)

[jiangping]

That's pretty interesting! I don't think I've ever seen a 被...所 sentence (or thought twice about it, anyway), but it seems like it's acceptable. I think originally only 為 would be used in this construction, and actually wasn't a preposition (or coverb) like 被 at all, but used in its normal verbal usage of "to be".

So a more literal reading of a 為...所... sentence could be (to steal an example from Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington, "Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar"):

他的講話為掌聲所淹沒

"His speech is that which the applause drowned" -> His speech was drowned by the applause.

This makes a lot of sense, because 所 is also used with its normal usage here of filling in for the object of the verb in a relative clause. It also explains why 為 is read as wéi (as opposed to wèi, how it's pronounced as a coverb or preposition).

Because this construction is basically straight out of classical Chinese (and thus why it sounds more formal), there is no need for verbal complements and the verb can even be monosyllabic (...為人所笑 for example).

I would guess that things have got a little muddled and now it's fine to use 被 instead of 為, while still leaving the 所 in give it a "formal" feeling, even though its grammatical function is redundant with 被.

[anonymoose]

Well, according to my 现代汉语虚词词典, one of the uses of 所 is:

4.用“所(被)”表示被动意义的句子，动词前边常加“所”。如果动词是单音节的，“所”不能少。

这件事常为人们所议论 | 这些年他为家庭的生活所累 | 分行写的散文就算作诗，难怪被内行人所笑

As can be seen, the third example sentence contains a 被_所_ construction.

[leeyah]

& let's not forget that one of the meanings of 为 (*wéi) is 被, as in>>为天下笑 from《伶官传序》where "为” is 介词,表示被动, 引出动作, 行为的主动者 and so the sentence is translated into modern Mandarin as>> 被天下人耻笑。(为”用作介词时一般读 wèi，*但表被动时读 wéi)

[jiangping]

& let's not forget that one of the meanings of 为 (*wéi) is 被, as in>>为天下笑 from《伶官传序》where "为” is 介词,表示被动, 引出动作, 行为的主动者 and so the sentence is translated into modern Mandarin as>> 被天下人耻笑。(为”用作介词时一般读 wèi，*但表被动时读 wéi)

It can be convenient to equate this classical usage of 為 with modern 被 because they appear to function in very similar ways, but for reasons I explained in post #5 this is not the case in Classical Chinese.

Here is an excerpt from Pulleyblank's "Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar":

In modern works on Classical Chinese grammar we usually find wéi 為 as a passive marker interpreted as a preposition or coverb (jièzi 介子), like modern bèi 被, which is used to gloss it. This is based on a false analogy with the modern language and is not a valid interpretation of the syntax of Classical Chinese itself. The graph is even sometimes read wèi in this sense, like the coverb meaning 'for, on behalf of,' but this is certainly mistaken. The best authorities retain the old level tone reading.

This doesn't really have much bearing on the modern usage, which seems to be synonymous with 被 (a preposition), but perhaps a little more formal. It helps explain what the 所 is doing, and how 被 came to be used with 所 even though the latter is now redundant.