Difference between revisions of "Expressing "for" with "wei""
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* <em>为</em> 人民 服务。<span class="trans">Serve the people</span> | * <em>为</em> 人民 服务。<span class="trans">Serve the people</span> | ||
| − | * 他 <em>为</em> 他 父亲 工作。<span class="trans">He works for his | + | * 他 <em>为</em> 他 父亲 工作。<span class="trans">He works for his father.</span> |
* 她 <em>为</em> 美国 政府 工作。<span class="trans">She works for the United States government.</span> | * 她 <em>为</em> 美国 政府 工作。<span class="trans">She works for the United States government.</span> | ||
* 老师 总是 <em>为</em> 学生 操心。<span class="trans">The teacher cares about the students.</span> | * 老师 总是 <em>为</em> 学生 操心。<span class="trans">The teacher cares about the students.</span> | ||
Revision as of 05:11, 25 June 2013
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Level
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Used for
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Keywords
When you work for a company, or do other sorts of physical (and even mental) activities for another party, you're likely to use the Chinese preposition 为 (wèi), which is often translated into English as "for," a translation which is often unnatural or unnecessary, depending on the particular phrase. The super common Mao-era phrase, 为人民服务 ("serve the people"), doesn't need the word "for" in English, for example.
Don't confuse this preposition with 为了, which is a bit different.
Structure
为 + [some part] + V
Examples
- 为 人民 服务。Serve the people
- 他 为 他 父亲 工作。He works for his father.
- 她 为 美国 政府 工作。She works for the United States government.
- 老师 总是 为 学生 操心。The teacher cares about the students.
- 公司 为 她 提供 了 很 多 资源。The company provided her with many resources.
See also
Sources and further reading
Books
- Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级) (pp. 238) →buy
- Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp.76) →buy
- Boya Chinese Lower Intermediate 1 (博雅汉语准中级加速篇) (pp. 203) →buy
Websites
- Yale Chinese Usage Dictionary: Uses of 为 and 为了
