Passive verbs with "shou"

One can explain 受 (shòu) in two ways, the first of which is as a passive marker, converting the verb placed after it into the passive. Here it plays a role very similar to 被. As in the first example, something or someone can be placed between 受 and the verb, 受学生的欢迎.

受 as a passive marker

Structure

受 + ([someone/something]) + Verb

Examples

• 张老师的课 很 受 学生 的 欢迎。 Teacher Zhang's lessons are welcomed by the students.
• 一个人 不一定 要 变得 很 有钱 或者 很 成功 才 会 受 人 尊重。People don't have to be rich or successful to receive respect from other people.
• 中国 政府 受老百姓的批评。China's government is rarely criticized by common people.
• 受 冷 空气 的 影响，今天 上海 特别 冷。Affected by the cold air, today Shanghai is especially cold.
• 你 的 手机 昨晚 一直 打不通，我 想 应该 是 受 信号 干扰。I think your cellphone couldn't get through last night because of the signal interference.

It must be noted that if 被 is explained as a passive marker, then in the above examples 欢迎， 尊重， 批评 and 尊重 must all be treated as verbs rather than nouns, despite many of them appearing immediately after 的.

An alternative way to explain 受, is as an active verb itself, meaning 'to obtain' or 'to receive' when dealing with positive aspects, or 'to suffer' when dealing with negative aspects. This explanation may be more accessible to native English speakers. However whichever grammatical explanation one uses, the meaning essentially remains the same.

受 as a verb

Structure

受 + (到/过）+ ([something/someone]) + Noun/Verb

Examples

• 张老师的课 受到 了 很多 学生 的 欢迎。Teacher Zhang's lessons "receive" many students' welcome.
• 一个人 不一定 要 变得 很 有钱 或者 很 成功 才 会 受 人 尊重。People don't have to be rich or successful to receive respect from other people.
• 受 冷 空气 的 影响，今天 上海 特别 冷。"Suffering" the cold air's effect, today Shanghai is especially cold.
• 我 父母 都 没 受过 很好 的 教育。Neither of my parents has "received" any good education.
• 我 在 美国 的 第一年 ， 受到 了 很多 朋友 的 帮助。The first year I was in America, I “received” a lot of help from many friends.
• 因为 期末 考试 没 考 好，他 受到 了 老师 的 批评。He received the teacher's criticism because he didn't do well in the final exam.
• 拐卖 小孩 的 人 应该 受到 法律 的 严惩。People who traffick kids should receive severe punishment in law.

It must be noted that on the occasions when 受 is followed immediately by 到 or 过，it is preferable to consider 受 as a verb.

See also

• Bei sentence

Sources and further reading

Books

• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (pp. 61-2) →buy
• 现代汉语八百词 (p.505) →buy
• 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 (p. 35) →buy

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (pp. 1259） →buy

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