Expressing "for" with "wei"

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 + Person + Predicate

The predicate part of the pattern can be a verb or an adjective.

Examples

• 我们 都 为 你 高兴 。Wǒmen dōu wèi nǐ gāoxìng.We are all happy for you.
• 谁 为 我 考虑 过 ？Shéi wèi wǒ kǎolǜ guo?Is there anyone who's ever thought about me?
• 你们 可以 来 为 我们 加油 。Nǐmen kěyǐ lái wèi wǒmen jiāyóu.You guys can come to cheer us up.
• 这个 生日 蛋糕 是 为 你 做 的 。Zhège shēngrì dàngāo shì wèi nǐ zuò de.This birthday cake is made for you.
• 父母 常常 要 为 家庭 付出 很 多 。Fùmǔ chángcháng yào wèi jiātíng fùchū hěn duō.Parents usually need to do a lot for their family.
• 那些 家长 都 在 为 自己 的 孩子 担心 。Nàxiē jiāzhǎng dōu zài wèi zìjǐ de háizi dānxīn.Those parents are all worried about their own child.
• 她 是 为 美国 政府 工作 的 。Tā shì wèi Měiguó zhèngfǔ gōngzuò de.She works for the United States government.
• 谢谢 你 为 我们 提供 这么 多 资源 。Xièxie nǐ wèi wǒmen tígōng zhème duō zīyuán.Thank you for providing us with so many resources.
• 在 华尔街 很 多 人 只 为 钱 工作 。Zài huá'ěrjiē, hěn duō rén zhǐ wèi qián gōngzuò.Lots of people from Wall Street only works for money.
• 他 为 公司 的 发展 做 了 很 多 贡献 。Tā wèi gōngsī de fāzhǎn zuò le hěn duō gòngxiàn.He contributed a lot for the development of the company.

See also

• Expressing purpose with "weile"
• Expressing "for" with "gei"

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) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp. 76) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Boya Chinese Lower Intermediate 1 (博雅汉语准中级加速篇) (pp. 203) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy

Websites

• Yale Chinese Usage Dictionary: Uses of 为 and 为了