被
Tap the pinyin to hear it
quilt; to cover (with); (literary) to suffer (a misfortune); used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, if the doer is not mentioned, before the verb); (since c. 2009) (sarcastic or jocular) used to indicate that the following word should be regarded as being in air quotes (as in 被旅遊|被旅游[bei4 lu : 3 you2] to "go on a trip")
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How to remember it
quilt · Heisig RSH #711
cloak + 皮 covering
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Words with 被
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 被动收入 | (finance) passive income | |
| 被物化 | objectified | |
| 失信被执行人 | (law) judgement defaulter (person who has failed to fulfill obligations set forth in a wri… | |
| 被子植物门 | angiospermae (phylum of flowering plants with seed contained in a fruit) | |
| 被加数 | augend; addend | |
| 被保人 | insured person; insurance policyholder | |
| 被保险人 | insured party; the person or entity covered under an insurance policy | |
| 被自杀 | a death claimed to be a suicide by the authorities | |
| 被子植物 | angiosperm (flowering plants with seed contained in a fruit) | |
| 被执行人 | (law) person required to fulfill obligations set forth in a written court judgement (e.g. … | |
| 被动吸烟 | second-hand smoking; passive smoking | |
| 被告人 | defendant (in legal case) | |
| 被子 | blanket; quilt; CL:條|条[tiao2],床[chuang2] | |
| 被上诉人 | appellee (side that won in trial court, whose victory is being appealed by losing side) | |
| 被动 | passive | |
| 花被 | perianth (common term for calyx and corolla); border and protecting envelope of a flower | |
| 被害人 | victim | |
| 被除数 | dividend (math.) | |
| 被面 | quilt | |
| 被选举权 | the right to be elected; the right to stand for election |
Sound family
Characters sharing the sound component 皮 — compare how they read.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 皮 sound part | skin, hide, fur, feathers | |
| 波 | waves, ripples, breakers; undulations | |
| 破 | to break, to rout; to ruin, to destroy | |
| 坡 | slope, hillside, embankment | |
| 彼 | that, those, the other | |
| 玻 | glass | |
| 疲 | weak, tired, exhausted | |
| 颇 | rather, quite; partial, biased | |
| 陂 | dam, embankment; reservoir | |
| 簸 | dustpan; to winnow, to toss | |
| 跛 | lame | |
| 帔 | cape, robe, skirt | |
| 铍 | beryllium |