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自己的事情自己做 (Do one's own things by oneself)

I've analyzed above Chinese sentence as follows using direct translation.

Oneself's matter must be done by oneself

But there seems no passive voice structure in the initially given sentence, so my bold sentence is wrong, but as I read from left to right straightforward, oneself do can only be seen.

What grammatical knowledge am I missing?

2
  • I noticed that I missed inserting 要 between 自己的事情 and 自己做. But the website I found on internet omitted it somehow...
    – TG24
    Oct 14, 2022 at 13:46
  • I've been still not accustomed to Chinese grammar so I think I've thrown my post with a trivial reason,so I'm sorry Tang Ho..
    – TG24
    Oct 14, 2022 at 13:50

1 Answer 1

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自己的事情自己做 is a [topic + comment] sentence, the straight translation is

Topic: 自己的事情 = one's own thing,

Comment: 自己做 = (one must) do it oneself

Translators often use the passive voice when it sounds more natural than using the active voice

自己的事情自己做 can be translated as either sentence below

  • "one's own thing, (must be) done by oneself" -- passive voice

  • "one's own thing, (one must) do it oneself" -- active voice

"do it myself" is not a passive voice, myself is still the subject

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