把…当作 / 把…当成 / 把…当【bǎ…dàngzuò / bǎ…dàngchéng / bǎ…dàng】

treat as, regard as, take for, mistake for, use as, consider, ba dangzuo, dangcheng

Says someone treats X as Y, or mistakes X for Y: 。 is "he treats me as a friend". 当 in this pattern is read dàng, fourth tone.

HSK 4

AI-generated

Structure

[subject] + 把 + [noun] + 当作 / 当成 / 当 + [noun]

[noun] + 被 + [person] + 当作 / 当成 + [noun]

Description

把 + A + 当作 + B says someone treats A as B, or takes A to be B. 当 here is read dàng, not dāng.

。

He treats me as a friend.

。

I mistook him for his older brother.

当作 or 当成

Either can do either job. 当成 is the usual choice for a mistake, often with 了; 当作 (also written 当做) suits a role you give something on purpose.

。

I mistook the salt for sugar.

。

We use this room as a study.

Speech often drops 作 and keeps bare 当.

。

Don't treat me like a child.

Word order

A goes after 把 and B after 当作. English "treat him as a friend" puts the person straight after the verb.

× 我当作他朋友 → 我把他当作朋友
× 他当成我老师 → 他把我当成老师

In the passive

With 被, A comes first as the subject, and the person doing the treating follows 被, or is left out.

。

This building used to serve as a school.

Examples

。

He treats me as a friend.

。

I mistook him for his older brother.

。

I mistook the salt for sugar.

。

We use this room as a study.

。

Don't treat me like a child.

。

She treats her students like her own children.

。

Make yourself at home.

。

He took what I said as a joke.

。

I'm treating this exam as practice.

。

This building used to serve as a school.

。

Xiaoyu uses her phone as an alarm clock.

。

A lot of people took him for a teacher.

所…的

拿…来说