把＋当事人＋动词＋了（致使）
causative 把: something leaves someone in a state; (old-fashioned) to suffer the loss of someone
Structure
原因／主语 ＋ 把 ＋ 人 ＋ 动词（＋补语） ＋ 了
What it means
Causative 把: the cause leaves the person after 把 in a state (worried, worn out, overjoyed). An old-fashioned form means the subject suffers losing someone.
How it is built
Cause + (可／真) + 把 + person + verb + complement + 了: 孩子半夜发烧，可把妈妈急坏了 (The child’s fever in the night had his mother beside herself).
When to use it
In ordinary 把 sentences the subject acts on the noun; here the noun after 把 is the one affected and the subject is the cause. In speech it mostly comes as 可把…V坏了／死了: 真把他乐坏了.
Watch out
The verb never stands bare: ✗可把我累。 ✓可把我累坏了。 The form with 个 and no complement (偏偏把个丈夫死了) is old-fashioned and literary: read it, don’t build new ones.
Examples
孩子半夜发烧，可把妈妈急坏了。
The child ran a fever in the middle of the night, and his mother was beside herself.
连着干了三天三夜，可把大家累坏了。
Three days and nights of work without a break wore everyone out.
谁知她年纪轻轻，偏偏把个丈夫死了，只好一个人把孩子拉扯大。
Still young, she had the misfortune to lose her husband, and had to bring the children up on her own.
Learn this in Lesson 120 · HSK 7–9: 定日地震 (Disaster report: the Tingri earthquake)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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