Active Voice & Passive Voice in Penang Hokkien

Throughout our lessons so far, we have dwelled on looking at Penang Hokkien sentences in the active voice. In this, the 30th lesson, we take a look at the Passive Voice. In passive sentences, the subject is the recipient of the action or has its state changed. There are two ways to form passive sentences in Penang Hokkien. It all depends on whether agent of the action is expressed.

Active Voice: "A cow chased him."
Passive Voice, with agent: "He was chased by a cow".
Passive Voice, without agent: "He was chased."

Now let's see the three sentences above in Penang Hokkien.

Active Voice: "Cit3-ciak1 gu2 tui1 ie1."
Passive Voice, with agent: "Ie1 hor33 cit3-ciak1 gu2 tui1."
Passive Voice, without agent: "Ie1 tiok3 tui1."

Where an agent is expressed, use "hor33" followed by the agent (sentence 2). In such a construction, hor33 can be translated as "by" (though it will appear elsewhere with other meanings).

Where an agent is not expressed, use "tiok1" (sandhied to "tiok3") followed by the passive action. In such a construction, tiok1 can be translated as the auxiliary property of "to be" (is/are/am/was/were).

Here are a few examples:

The teacher scolded the pupil.
The pupil got scolded by the teacher.
The pupil got scolded.

Sin3sneah1 mae33 heh1-leh1 hap3seng3knia4.
Heh1-leh1 hap3seng3knia4 hor33 sin3sneah1 mae33.
Heh1-leh1 hap3seng3knia4 tiok3 mae33.

The bus hit my car.
My car was hit by the bus.
My car got hit.

Heh-leh1 bas1 long3 wah1-eh3 chia1.
Wah1-eh3 chia1 hor33 bas1 long3.
Wah1-eh3 chia1 tiok3 long3.

She plucked the flower this morning.
The flower was plucked by her this morning.
The flower was plucked this morning.

Ee1 kin3jit3 ca1khi4 ban4 heh1-leh1 hua1.
Heh1-leh1 hua1 kin3jit3 ca1khi4 hor33 ee1 ban4.
Heh1-leh1 hua1 kin3jit3 ca1khi4 tiok3 ban4.

Previous Lesson | Main Page | Next Lesson

Language Learning Tools

Use the following language learning tools to learn Penang Hokkien!

Return to Penang Hokkien Resources