被【bèi】

被 makes a passive sentence. The person or thing affected goes first, then 被, then whoever did it, then the verb. The doer can be left out.

Usually something unwelcome

被 is mostly used for things that happen to someone against their wishes: being stolen from, hit, criticised, broken, caught in the rain. A neutral or pleasant event usually takes no 被 at all.

• × 这本书被写得很好 → 这本书写得很好
• × 饭被做好了 → 饭做好了

The 被 sentence needs something after the verb, like a 把 sentence: 了, a complement, or both.

• × 我的钱包被偷 → 我的钱包被偷了

Negation and modal verbs

没, 不, 别 and modal verbs go in front of 被. A negated 被 sentence drops the 了.

• × 我被他没看见 → 我没被他看见

Not for "was made in" or "is called"

English uses the passive for many neutral facts. Chinese says them as plain statements, often with 是…的.

• × 这个房子被建在1990年 → 这个房子是1990年建的

In speech, 让, 叫 and 给 also mark a passive; they have their own point.