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被迫 (bèi pò) — to be forced, to be compelled

Definition

Marks the subject as the one being forced — the recipient of someone else's pressure. Unlike 强迫 or 强制 (active, transitive), 被迫 is passive: 'was forced to'.

verb
to be forcedto be compelled

Examples

  • 被迫。
    Tā bèi pò cí zhí le.
    He was forced to resign.
  • 被迫。
    Tā bèi pò zuò chū le zhè ge jué dìng.
    She was forced to make this decision.
  • 被迫。
    Wǒ men bèi pò zài yǔ zhōng děng dài.
    We were forced to wait in the rain.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

被bèipassive
迫pòforce

被 (passive) qualifies 迫 (force), meaning forced by an outside power.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yīclothing
Sound part声符shēngfú
皮
皮pí被bèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

被 pairs 衣 (clothing) with 皮, which gives the sound.

Open 被 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái迫pò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 迫 pairs the walking radical 辶 (written in full as 辵) with 白, which gives the sound.

Open 迫 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Abstract Concepts5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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