Explaining causes with "yinwei"

A common way to explain causes in Chinese is with 因为 (yīnwèi). This is almost entirely equivalent to "because" in English. Usually 因为 (yīnwèi) will begin a new phrase in a sentence.

Structure

In this structure, we first state the result, and then give the reason in the next statement after the 因为 (yīnwèi).

Result ，因为 + Reason

Examples

• 我 不 喜欢 她 ， 因为 她 很 坏 。 Wǒ bù xǐhuan tā, yīnwèi tā hěn huài. I don't like her because she is a bad person.
• 她 喜欢 你 ， 因为 你 很 友好 。 Tā xǐhuan nǐ, yīnwèi nǐ hěn yǒuhǎo. She likes you because you are friendly.
• 我 不 舒服 ， 因为 我 喝 了 太 多 啤酒 。 Wǒ bù shūfu, yīnwèi wǒ hē le tài duō píjiǔ. I feel unwell because I drank too much beer.
• 今天 我 没 去 上课 ， 因为 我 生病 了 。 Jīntiān wǒ méi qù shàngkè, yīnwèi wǒ shēngbìng le. I didn't go to school today because I am sick.
• 我 爱 你 ， 因为 你 是 我 女儿 。 Wǒ ài nǐ, yīnwèi nǐ shì wǒ nǚ’ér. I love you because you are my daughter.
• 我 在 学习 中文 ， 因为 我 想 去 中国 。 Wǒ zài xuéxí Zhōngwén, yīnwèi wǒ xiǎng qù Zhōngguó. I am studying Chinese because I want to go China.
• 他 很 高兴 ， 因为他 认识 了 一个 女孩 。 Tā hěn gāoxìng, yīnwèi tā rènshi le yīgè nǚhái. He is happy because he met a girl.
• 他们 没有 去 杭州 ， 因为 天气 非常 热 。 Tāmen méiyǒu qù Hángzhōu, yīnwèi tiānqì fēicháng rè. They didn't go to Hangzhou because the weather was very hot.
• 他 的 中文 很 好 ， 因为 他 太太 是 中国人 。 Tā de Zhōngwén hěn hǎo, yīnwèi tā tàitai shì zhōngguórén. He speaks Chinese well because his wife is Chinese.
• 上 个 月 我 不 在 上海 ， 因为 我 去 南京 了 。 Shàng gè yuè wǒ bù zài Shànghǎi, yīnwèi wǒ qù Nánjīng le. I wasn't in Shanghai last month because I went to Nanjing.

See also

• Explaining results with "suoyi"
• Cause and effect with "yinwei" and "suoyi"
• Stating the effect before the cause (advanced article)

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) (p. 272) →buy

HSK3