Passive verbs with "shou"

受 (shòu) is generally thought of as a passive marker, converting the verb placed after it into the passive. Here it plays a role very similar to 被.

受 as a passive marker

Structure

受 + (Someone / Something) + Verb

Examples

• 张老 师 的 课 很 受 学生 的 欢迎。 Zhāng Lǎoshī de kè hěn shòu xuéshēng de huānyíng.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。Yī gè rén bù yīdìng yào biàn de hěn yǒu qián huòzhě hěn chénggōng cái huì shòu rén zūnzhòng.A person don't have to be rich or successful to be respected.
• 中国 政府 很 少 受 老百姓 的 批评 。Zhōngguó zhèngfǔ hěn shǎo shòu lǎobǎixìng de pīpíng.China's government is rarely criticized by the common people.
• 你 的 手机 昨晚 一直 打不通，我 想 应该 是 受 信号 干扰。Nǐ de shǒujī zuó wǎn yīzhí dǎ bùtōng, wǒ xiǎng yīnggāi shì shòu xìn hào gānrǎo.I think I couldn't get through to your cell phone last night because of signal interference.
• 受 冷 空气 的 影响，今天 上海 特别 冷。Shòu lěng kōngqì de yǐngxiǎng, jīntiān Shànghǎi tèbié lěng.Affected by a cold front, today Shanghai is especially cold.

It must be noted that if 受 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.

受 as a verb

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.

Structure

受 (+ 到/过) + ([Something / Someone] +) Noun / Verb

Examples

• 张 老师 的 课 受到 了 很 多 学生 的 欢迎。Zhāng Lǎoshī de kè shòudào le hěn duō xuéshēng de huānyíng.Teacher Zhang's lessons received many students' approval.
• 一 个 人 不一定 要 变得 很 有钱 或者 很 成功 才 会 受 人 尊重。Yīgè rén bù yīdìng yào biàn de hěn yǒu qián huòzhě hěn chénggōng cái huì shòu rén zūnzhòng.A person doesn't have to be rich or successful to receive respect from other people.
• 我 父母 都 没 受过 很 好 的 教育。Wǒ fùmǔ dōu méi shòu guo hěn hǎo de jiàoyù.Neither of my parents has received a very good education.
• 我 在 美国 的 第一年 ，受到 了 很 多 朋友 的 帮助。Wǒ zài Měiguó de dì yī nián, shòudào le hěn duō péngyou de bāngzhù.The first year I was in the USA, 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。Yīnwèi qīmò kǎoshì méi kǎo hǎo, tā shòudào le lǎoshī de pīpíng.He received the teacher's criticism because he didn't do well in the final exam.
• 拐卖 孩子 的 人 应该 受到 法律 的 严惩。Guǎimài háizi de rén yīnggāi shòudào fǎlǜ de yánchéng.People who traffic kids should suffer severe punishment from the law.
• 受 冷 空气 的 影响，今天 上海 特别 冷。Shòu lěng kōngqì de yǐngxiǎng, jīntiān Shànghǎi tèbié lěng."Suffering" from the influence of a cold front, today Shanghai is especially cold.

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) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• 现代汉语八百词 (pp. 505) 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 →buy
• 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 (pp. 35) 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 →buy

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (pp. 1259) 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 →buy

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