Passive Voice in Penang Hokkien

In the passive voice, the grammatical subject undergoes the action or change of state. In Penang Hokkien, not all sentences in the active voice can be converted into the passive voice, as many will result in awkward construction.

Sentences in the Active Voice In the active voice, the subject plays the agent role that causes or initiates an action or event.

1. Ma1ta2 liak3 chat1.
   The police caught the thief.
   
   
2. Phang1 teng33 heh1-leh1 ae1kau4.
   The bee stung the mute.
   
   
3. Ie1 that1 heh1-leh1 tim3ba1.
   He kicked the bucket.
   
   
4. Gu2 tui1 heh1-leh1 cheng33 ang3 sna1-eh3 ta3por3 gin1na4.
   The cow chased the little boy in red shirt.
   
   

Passive Voice using hor33 The above sentences can be converted to the passive voice using hor33, which means "by", followed by the agent (the person who does the action).

1. Heh-leh1 chat1 hor33 ma1ta2 liak1.
   The thief was caught by the police.
   
   
2. Heh1-leh1 ae1kau4 hor33 phang1 teng33.
   The mute was bitten by a bee.
   
   
3. Heh1-leh1 tim3ba1 hor33 ie1 that3.
   The bucket was kicked by him.
   
   
4. Heh1-leh1 cheng33 ang3 sna1-eh3 ta3por3 gin1na4 hor33 gu3 tui1.
   The little boy in red shirt was chased by the cow.
   
   

Passive Voice without hor33 You can drop mentioning the agent, in which case you place tiok3 in front of the action verb. It carries the meaning of "got" (though you can also replace it with "was/were").

1. Heh-leh1 chat1 tiok3 liak1.
   The thief got/was caught.
   
   
2. Heh1-leh1 ae1kau4 tiok3 teng33.
   The mute got/was stung.
   
   
3. Heh-leh1 tim3ba1 tiok3 that3.
   The bucket got/was kicked.
   
   
4. Heh1-leh1 cheng33 ang3 sna1-eh3 ta3por3 gin1na4 tiok3 tui1.
   The little boy in red shirt got/was chased.
   
   

Penang Hokkien Grammar

Language Learning Tools

Use the following language learning tools to learn Penang Hokkien!

Learn Penang Hokkien with uTalk

This app opens the door to over 150 languages.

Learn Penang Hokkien with Memrise

Return to Penang Hokkien Resources

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

Map of Roads in Penang

Looking for information on Penang? Use this Map of Roads in Penang to zoom in on information about Penang, brought to you road by road.

Disclaimer

Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.

To get to know me better, do follow me on Facebook!

Copyright © 2003-2025 Timothy Tye. All Rights Reserved.

Terms & Condition of Use | Privacy Policy