Causative 把: 把我吵醒了 / 看把他吓得!
【六40】【六63】特殊句型 / special sentence patterns
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
In the ordinary 把 sentence, a person deliberately handles an object: 我把门关上了. Here the subject is a cause (a noise, an object, a fact, a state of mind) and 把 + O is the one who undergoes the effect: 外面的声音把我吵醒了 ("the noise woke me"), 这双鞋把我的脚磨破了, 压力把他压得喘不过气来. Nobody acts on purpose: you describe a consequence.
The verb never stands bare: it carries a result (吵醒, 磨破) or a state complement with 得 (压得喘不过气来, 吓得脸都白了). Without one the sentence is incomplete.
In speech, 看 / 瞧 + 把 + O + V得 … is an exclamation: "look what state it has put him in!" 看把你吓得脸都白了! 瞧把他乐得! The tone is affectionate, teasing or sympathetic.
The 被 sentence says the same from the point of view of the one who suffers (我被外面的声音吵醒了). With 把, the cause stays at the head of the sentence and the result stands out; it is livelier, especially in speech. Do not confuse it with 让 / 使 (这件事让我很高兴), which state an effect without describing its concrete result.
Examples
外面的声音把我吵醒了。
Wàimiàn de shēngyīn bǎ wǒ chǎoxǐng le.The noise outside woke me up.
这双新鞋把我的脚磨破了。
Zhè shuāng xīn xié bǎ wǒ de jiǎo mópò le.These new shoes rubbed my feet raw.
那两杯浓咖啡把他喝得整夜睡不着。
Nà liǎng bēi nóng kāfēi bǎ tā hē de zhěng yè shuì bu zháo.Those two strong coffees kept him awake all night.
孩子的话把妈妈感动得流下了眼泪。
Háizi de huà bǎ māma gǎndòng de liúxià le yǎnlèi.The child's words moved his mother to tears.
看把你吓得脸都白了，其实没什么大事。
Kàn bǎ nǐ xià de liǎn dōu bái le, qíshí méi shénme dà shì.Look at you, white as a sheet, and it's nothing serious.
瞧把他乐得，嘴都合不上了。
Qiáo bǎ tā lè de, zuǐ dōu hé bu shàng le.Look how pleased he is, he can't stop grinning.
Common mistakes
✗ 这双鞋把脚磨。 → ✓ 这双鞋把脚磨破了 (after 把 + O the verb cannot stand bare: it needs a result).
✗ 看把他乐！ → ✓ 看把他乐得！ (the exclamation needs 得, or 的 at the end: 看把他乐的！).
✗ 我把外面的声音吵醒了。 → ✓ 外面的声音把我吵醒了 (the cause is the subject; the one who suffers comes after 把).