Difference between revisions of "Expressing "for" with "wei""
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{{Basic Grammar|为|B1|为 + Noun⋯⋯|<em>为</em> 人民 服务 ！|grammar point|ASG68RBX}} | {{Basic Grammar|为|B1|为 + Noun⋯⋯|<em>为</em> 人民 服务 ！|grammar point|ASG68RBX}} | ||
| + | {{Used for|Expressing Purpose}} | ||
{{Similar|Expressing purpose with "weile"}} | {{Similar|Expressing purpose with "weile"}} | ||
{{POS|Prepositions}} | {{POS|Prepositions}} | ||
Revision as of 01:47, 19 June 2013
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Level
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Similar to
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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 party] + V
Examples
- 为 人民 服务。Serve the people
- 他 为 他 父亲 工作。He works for his parents.
- 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
