# HSK 4 Prepositions 将, 由, 叫, 让: Agent and Patient Guide | HSKReady Canonical: https://hskready.app/en/grammar/hsk-4-prepositions-aee0e0de66 Language: en Content ID: web-grammar-hsk-4-prepositions-aee0e0de66 HSK levels: 4 Updated: 2026-10-23T04:56:47.758Z Scope: published website educational content; full vocabulary, question bank and mock exams remain in the app. Learn how HSK 4 prepositions 将, 由, 叫, and 让 introduce agents (施事) and patients (受事), with clear structures, register contrasts, and error corrections. Grammar [HSK 4 · Word classes › Prepositions › Introducing agent or patient](https://hskready.app/en/grammar/hsk-4#hsk-4-g015) # HSK 4 Prepositions for Agents and Patients: 将, 由, 叫, and 让 In the Level 4 syllabus outline, the prepositions 将, 由, 叫, and 让 are grouped under introducing the agent (施事, the doer of an action) or the patient (受事, the receiver of an action). While 将 brings the patient forward in formal disposal sentences, 由 assigns responsibility to an agent, and 叫 or 让 introduce the agent in spoken passive sentences. Subject 将 Affected person or thing Action Verb （ Verb expansion (result, destination, quantity or aspect, as appropriate) ） Example sentence 请先将手机关掉。 Qǐng xiān jiāng shǒujī guāndiào. Please turn off your mobile phone first. 将 introduces 手机 before the action 关掉, “turn off.” This is a written-style request; 关上 would be a less suitable choice for turning off a phone. A common mistake × 我的雨伞叫拿走了。 Wǒ de yǔsǎn jiào ná zǒu le. Intended: My umbrella was taken away. Incorrect: In a passive sentence where the patient (我的雨伞) is the subject, 叫 cannot be placed directly before the verb (拿走了) without an explicit agent object. Use the corrected version with 别人 instead. Corrected example: 我的雨伞叫别人拿走了。 **Read the full explanation and examples** ## How Chinese Prepositions Mark Doers and Receivers An agent is the doer of an action; a patient is the person or thing affected. A simple active sentence often puts the agent before the verb, but subjects need not always be agents. The supplied Level 4 outline groups 将、由2、叫 and 让 under introducing agents and patients; 由2 is the label used in that document. - Introducing the patient (受事): 将 moves the receiver of the action in front of the verb, functioning as a formal counterpart to 把. - Introducing the responsible agent (施事): 由 identifies who is in charge of carrying out an action. - Introducing the passive agent (施事): 叫 and 让 mark the doer in conversational passive sentences, similar to 被. ## Introducing the Patient with 将 In this use, 将 is a written-style counterpart of 把: it places an identifiable affected object before the verb phrase and states what is done to it. The verb phrase normally supplies enough detail about the handling, such as a result, destination, quantity, aspect marker or repetition. It is not limited to result or directional complements; compare 将手机关掉 and 将问题解释了一遍. Subject 将 Affected person or thing Action Verb （ Verb expansion (result, destination, quantity or aspect, as appropriate) ） 请先将手机关掉。 Qǐng xiān jiāng shǒujī guāndiào. Please turn off your mobile phone first. 将 introduces 手机 before the action 关掉, “turn off.” This is a written-style request; 关上 would be a less suitable choice for turning off a phone. 工作人员已经将行李放在门口了。 Gōngzuò rényuán yǐjīng jiāng xíngli fàng zài ménkǒu le. The staff have already placed the luggage at the doorway. Correct: 将 marks the patient (行李) and is followed by a verb plus a prepositional phrase showing location. 将 is common in notices, instructions and formal reports; 把 is more usual in everyday conversation. This lesson concerns the preposition before an object. In 他将参加会议, 将 instead means “will” and does not introduce a patient object. ## Assigning the Agent with 由 The outline labels this use 由2, distinct from the origin use taught elsewhere. 由 introduces who performs or is responsible for an action. A task, event or cost often comes first as the topic. Notices frequently use this structure to assign work, but it can also describe who actually carried out a task. Affected person or thing 由 Agent (Doer or Responsible Party) Verb Phrase 这次会议由王经理主持。 Zhè cì huìyì yóu Wáng jīnglǐ zhǔchí. Manager Wang is to chair this meeting. 由 introduces 王经理 as the person who chairs the meeting. The context here presents an arrangement; 由 itself does not encode future tense. 维修费用由房东承担。 Wéixiū fèiyòng yóu fángdōng chéngdān. The repair costs are borne by the landlord. Correct: 由 specifies which party (房东) is responsible for the expense. 由 itself does not mark tense or completion. Context can describe a plan, a general arrangement or a completed event: 这次会议由王经理主持 presents the chairing arrangement, while 这次会议由王经理主持，昨天已经结束了 supplies a completed context. ## Introducing the Agent in Passive Sentences with 叫 and 让 In a passive reading, the subject is affected by the action and 叫 or 让 introduces its doer. The examples use 吃光 and 借走 to describe results. A completed result is not compulsory in every passive: 他总让人欺负 describes repeated treatment rather than one completed event. Use the whole context to understand the verb phrase. Patient Subject (Receiver at start of clause) 叫 / 让 Agent (Doer or Responsible Party) Action Verb （ Verb expansion (result, destination, quantity or aspect, as appropriate) ） 桌上的蛋糕叫弟弟吃光了。 Zhuō shàng de dàngāo jiào dìdi chī guāng le. The cake on the table was eaten up by my younger brother. Correct: 叫 introduces the agent (弟弟) in an informal passive sentence with the result complement 光. 我的自行车让室友借走了。 Wǒ de zìxíngchē ràng shìyǒu jiè zǒu le. My bicycle was borrowed and taken away by my roommate. Correct: 让 introduces the agent (室友) after the patient subject (我的自行车). 叫 and 让 also have causative uses, “tell,” “have” or “let someone do something.” Compare 我让室友借走了自行车, “I let my roommate borrow the bicycle,” with 我的自行车让室友借走了, “My bicycle was borrowed by my roommate.” Identify the role of the subject and read the context; word order alone may not remove every ambiguity. ## Crucial Limits and Common Learner Mistakes For the standard conversational passive patterns taught here, put an agent after 叫 or 让. If the doer is unknown, 人 or 别人 can fill that position. To leave the doer unexpressed, use 被: 我的雨伞被拿走了. This contrast concerns the passive construction, not other meanings of 叫 or 让. × 我的雨伞叫拿走了。 Wǒ de yǔsǎn jiào ná zǒu le. Intended: My umbrella was taken away. Incorrect: In a passive sentence where the patient (我的雨伞) is the subject, 叫 cannot be placed directly before the verb (拿走了) without an explicit agent object. Use the corrected version with 别人 instead. Corrected example: 我的雨伞叫别人拿走了。 我的雨伞叫别人拿走了。 Wǒ de yǔsǎn jiào biérén ná zǒu le. My umbrella was taken away by someone else. Correct replacement: A generic agent (别人) fills the required object slot after 叫. Summary of contrasts: Use 将 before the patient in formal writing; use 由 before the agent when assigning duties or costs; use 叫 or 让 before a stated agent in casual spoken passives. ## Frequently asked questions **Can I always replace 把 with 将?** Not in every use of 把 or 将. In the disposal patterns here they overlap, with 将 generally more written or formal. 将 can also mean “will,” as in 他将参加会议; that use cannot be replaced with 把. Match the construction and register before substituting. **How is 由 different from 被 when both introduce the doer?** 由 often identifies the responsible person or presents a division of work. 被 and passive 叫/让 present the event from the affected subject’s side. Neither distinction is simply “future versus past”: both an arrangement and a completed event can be described with 由, and passives can describe repeated events. **What if I do not know who did the action in a 叫 or 让 passive sentence?** You must still include an indefinite noun or pronoun such as 人 or 别人 after 叫 or 让, or switch the preposition to 被, which allows the agent to be omitted before the verb. **Source**[hsk.cn-bj.ufileos.com · PDF page 395](https://hsk.cn-bj.ufileos.com/3.0/%E6%96%B0%E7%89%88HSK%E8%80%83%E8%AF%95%E5%A4%A7%E7%BA%B21219.pdf#page=395) ## Continue in the app Full mock exams are available in HSKReady. 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