In Chinese, the active or passive voice is not compulsorily marked by a particular character. If a subject is present in a phrase – which may also be implicit – the phrase has an active sense; if, instead no subject is present, the phrase has a passive sense.
Here are some examples:
Active sense (the subject is expressed):
我弟弟把刚买的仙贝都吃掉了。
Wǒ dìdi bǎ gāng mǎi de xiānbèi dōu chīdiào le.
My younger brother ate all the recently bought Xianbei.
Passive sense (the subject is not expressed):
刚买的仙贝都吃掉了。
Gāng mǎi de xiānbèi dōu chīdiào le.
All the recently bought Xianbei have been eaten.
Active sense (the subject is expressed)
我妈妈花了钱。
Wǒ māma huā le qián.
My mother spent the money.
Passive sense (the subject is not expressed)
钱花了。
Qián huāle.
The money has been spent.
Active sense (the subject is expressed)
学生在教室里不能睡觉。
Xuésheng zài jiàoshì lǐ bùnéng shuìjiào.
The students cannot sleep in class.
Passive sense (the subject is not expressed)
在教室里不能睡觉。
Zài jiàoshì lǐ bùnéng shuìjiào.
You can’t sleep in class.
Active sense (the subject is expressed)
有人把我的房子火烧了。
Yǒurén bǎ wǒ de fángzi huǒshao le.
Someone burned my house.
Passive sense (the subject is not expressed)
我的房子火烧了。
Wǒ de fángzi huǒshao le.
My house was burned.
Active sense (the subject is expressed)
他把墙壁都漆成红色了。
Tā bǎ qiángbì dōu qīchéng hóngsè le.
He painted all the walls red.
Passive sense (the subject is not expressed)
墙壁都漆成红色了。
Qiángbì dōu qīchéng hóngsè le.
All the walls were painted red.
Structures with 被 (bèi)
The passive voice can be underlined thanks to a construction introduced by the character 被 (bèi), which in classic Chinese had the meaning of “to cover”. Phrases with 被 have much in common with phrases with 把 (bǎ), for this reason they’re often explained in the same unit.
The verb, in fact, is often a verb that expresses a change or manipulation that causes a consequence or concrete effect. The construction with 被, moreover, often indicates an unpleasant result or, at least one different than expected. The character 被, to help you formulate the phrase, can be thought of as if it were our word “by”.
Here’s the most common structure of the phrase and a few examples:
Subject + 被 (bèi) + adverb (can be omitted) + Verb + particle or results
我的朋友先 被 经理批评了，再 被 炒鱿鱼了。
Wǒ de péngyou xiān bèi jīnglǐ pīpíng le, zài bèi chǎo yóuyú le.
My friend was first criticized by the manager and was then fired.
他 被 打了两拳。
Tā bèi dǎ le liǎng quán.
He took two punches.
因为意大利的经济衰退，很多人都 被 解雇了。
Yīnwèi Yìdàlì de jīngjì shuāituì, hěn duō rén dōu bèi jiěgù le.
Due to the economic recession in Italy, many people have been laid off.
他的钱包被拿走了，反而我的汽车 被 找到了。
Tā de qiánbāo bèi názǒu le, fǎn’ér wǒ de qìchē bèi zhǎodào le.
His wallet was stolen, while my car was found.
昨天晚上他们 被 关在外面了。
Zuótiān wǎnshang tāmen bèi guān zài wàimian le.
Last night I was locked outside.
In spoken language, 被 can be substituted by 让 (ràng) or 叫 (jiào), without affecting the meaning of the phrase. Nevertheless, while when using 被 the adverb can be omitted, with 让 or 叫 the adverb must necessarily be specified.
Here are some examples:
大白兔糖果 让 李光头和宋钢吃掉了。
Dàbáitù tángguǒ ràng Lǐ Guāngtóu hé Sòng Gāng chīdiào le.
The mou “white rabbit” candies were devoured by Li Testapelata and Song Gang.
下雨了。不幸，我的雨伞 叫 朋友借走了。
Xiàyǔ le. Bụ̀xìng, wǒ de yǔsǎn jiào péngyou jiè zǒu le.
Yes it rained. Unfortunately I lent my umbrella to a friend.
Important: the presence of the character 给(gěi) before the verb indicates that the phrase has a passive sense even if 被, 让 and/or 叫 aren’t present.
那个小偷 给 抓住了。
Nàge xiǎotōu gěi zhuāzhù le. .
That thief was nabbed.
那个小偷 被给 抓住了。
Nàge xiǎotōu bèi gěi zhuāzhù le
That thief was nabbed.
他 给 踢了三脚。
Tā gěi tīle sān jiǎo.
He took three kicks.
他 被给 踢了三脚。
Tā bèi gěi tīle sān jiǎo.
He took three kicks.
Phrases with a passive sense usually refer to something that happened in the past. For this reason, if you wish to negate a phrase with a passive sense, use 没 (有) (méi (yǒu)) and not 不 (bù) as a negating adverb.
没 in this case, will be placed before 被, 让, 叫o 给, and never before the adverb .
我的爸爸没被辞职过。
Wǒ de bàba méi bèi cízhí guo.
My father was never fired.
我的主张没有被接受。
Wǒ de zhǔzhāng méiyǒu bèi jiēshòu.
My proposal was not accepted.
Constructions with 为(wèi) … 所 (suǒ) …
A last construction indicating the passive is represented by “为(wèi) … 所 (suǒ) …”. This structure is usually found in written language and comes from classical Chinese.
Here are some examples:
他的秘密不为人所发现。
Tā de mìmì bù wéirén suǒ fāxiàn.
His secret must not be discovered by others.
地球的表面为海洋所覆盖。
Dìqiú de biǎomiàn wèi hǎiyáng suǒ fùgài.
The surface of the Earth is covered by the oceans.
我为坏人所欺骗了。
Wǒ wèi huàirén suǒ qīpiàn le.
I was cheated by bad people.
Photo Credits: 
Chinese Calligraphy Patterns by Sherrie Thai of ShaireProductions
