被迫
to be forced to
Structure
主语 被迫 动词
What it means
To be forced to do something: the subject acts, but under pressure it could not resist.
How it is built
Subject + 被迫 + verb: 由于资金不足，工厂被迫停产 (For lack of funds the factory was forced to stop production).
When to use it
No agent is needed: 被迫 is one word, followed straight by the verb. 不得不 is the same idea from the inside (“had no choice but to”). The active verb is 迫使: 压力迫使他辞职. Common in news and history.
Watch out
Don’t split it to add a doer: ✗ 他被老板迫辞职 ✓ 他被迫辞职, or make the doer the subject: ✓ 老板迫使他辞职. 被迫 is followed directly by the verb.
Examples
中国被日本打败，被迫割让台湾。
China was defeated by Japan and forced to cede Taiwan.
由于资金不足，工厂被迫停产。
For lack of funds the factory was forced to stop production.
Learn this in Lesson 81 · HSK 6–7: 从鸦片战争到1949 (From the Opium War to 1949)
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.
Open the lesson →