# Bị + verb: is …ed (unwelcome) in Vietnamese (A2)

> When something bad is done to someone, put bị before the verb: Anh ấy bị phạt. He got fined.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bi-passive/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**is …ed (unwelcome)**

Pattern: `[subject] + bị + ([doer]) + [verb]`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: bi

When something bad is done to someone, put *bị* before the verb: *Anh ấy bị phạt.* He got fined. To say who did it, put the doer straight after *bị*, with no word for "by": *Em bị chó cắn.* I got bitten by a dog. *Hôm nay em bị sếp la.* My boss told me off today (in Hà Nội, *mắng*).

*Bị* tells the listener that the speaker sees it as bad news. For good news, the same pattern uses *được*: *Em được sếp khen.* My boss praised me. So the choice between the two is about feeling, not grammar.

Unlike an English passive, the person who suffers can come first when something of theirs is affected, and the thing goes after the verb: *Em bị mất bóp.* I've lost my wallet, or it's been stolen (in Hà Nội, *ví*). *Chị bị giật điện thoại.* Someone snatched my phone.

Time words go before *bị*: *Hôm qua anh bị phạt.*

Before an illness or a broken machine, *bị* has no doer and no action: *bị cảm*, *bị hư*. That's a neighbouring pattern.

## A common mistake

✗ Hôm qua em được phạt.

✓ Hôm qua em bị phạt.

*Được* is for things you're glad about. A fine is bad news, so it takes *bị*.

## Examples

- Saigon: Anh ấy bị phạt ba trăm ngàn. | Hà Nội: Anh ấy bị phạt ba trăm nghìn. — He got fined three hundred thousand.
- Em bị chó cắn. — I got bitten by a dog.
- Saigon: Hôm nay em bị sếp la. | Hà Nội: Hôm nay em bị sếp mắng. — My boss told me off today.
- Saigon: Em bị mất bóp rồi. | Hà Nội: Em bị mất ví rồi. — I've lost my wallet.

## Words in this pattern

- [bị](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/bi-suffer/#lx_bi): suffer

## Compare

- [Passive for good things: được + (doer) + verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/duoc-passive/): is …ed (welcome)
- [Being ill or in a bad state: bị + illness or adjective](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bi-bad-state/): suffer from

Previous in Là, có, and how verbs work together: [OK, fine: được as 'good enough'](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/duoc-ok/)
Next in Là, có, and how verbs work together: [Passive for good things: được + (doer) + verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/duoc-passive/)

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