Emphasizing the doer of an action with "you"

由 (yóu) is used to emphasize who is the doer or initiator of an action, a bit like in English where we might say: "Andy is the one who...."

Structure

Topic + 由 + Person + Verb

Examples

• 这 件 事 由 我 负责。Zhè jiàn shì yóu wǒ fùzé.I am responsible for this.
• 这 件 事 是 由 她 引起 的。Zhèjiàn shì shì yóu tā yǐnqǐ de.The incident was caused by her.
• 这次 的 广告 是 由 他 一个人 拍摄 的。Zhècì de guǎnggào shì yóu tā yīgèrén pāishè de.The advertisement was shot by him alone.
• 你 想 怎么样 生活，完全 由 你 自己 规划。Nǐ xiǎng zěnmeyàng shēnghuó, wánquán yóu nǐ zìjǐ guīhuà.How you want to live your life is entirely up to you.
• 你 去过 上海，那 这次 就 由 你 做 导游。Nǐ qù guo Shànghǎi, nà zhècì jiù yóu nǐ zuò dǎoyóu.You have been to Shanghai before, so you will be the tour guide this time.
• 这 个 国家 的 粮食 主要 由 加拿大 进口。Zhè gè guójiā de liángshi zhǔyào yóu Jiānádà jìnkǒu.Canada is the main importer of food in this country.
• 这 件 事 由 我 说了 算。Zhè jiàn shì yóu wǒ shuō le suàn.This is a matter for me to decide.
• 这个 规定 是 由 政府 发布 的。Zhège guīdìng shì yóu zhèngfǔ fābù de.This is a regulation issued by the government.
• 这 是 由 他 决定 的，你 就 别 干涉 了。Zhè shì yóu tā juédìng de, nǐ jiù bié gānshèle.This is for him to decide, don't meddle.
• 太 悲剧 了，会议 由 王总 主持，肯定 会 很 无聊！Tài bēijùle, huìyì yóu Wáng zǒng zhǔchí, kěndìng huì hěn wúliáo!Oh no. This meeting is being led by the General Manager Wang.It's definitely going to be boring.

Note that 由 not a passive marker.

See also

• "Due to…" with "youyu"
• Adding emphasis with "jiushi"

Sources and further reading

Books

• HSK Standard Course 4下 (pp. 34) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Boya Chinese Lower Intermediate 2 (博雅汉语准中级加速篇) (pp. 111) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 (pp. 245) 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 →buy

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