Cause and effect with "yinwei" and "suoyi"

You will often come across “因为 (yīnwèi)... , 所以 (suǒyǐ)..." in written Chinese as well as spoken Chinese. This grammar point will make your Chinese much more intricate.

Structure

"因为 (yīnwèi)... , 所以 (suǒyǐ)..." are used to indicate cause and effect. They are often thought of as being: "Since ___ happened, so ___ happened."

因为 + Cause , 所以 + Effect

This expresses that because of cause, therefore there is a result.

Examples

• 因为 我 有 一个 中国 女朋友，所以 我 要 学 中文。Yīnwèi wǒ yǒu yī gè Zhōngguó nǚpéngyou, suǒyǐ wǒ yào xué Zhōngwén. Since I have a Chinese girlfriend, I am going to study Chinese.
• 因为 我 不 想 迟到，所以 应该 打车。Yīnwèi wǒ bùxiǎng chídào, suǒyǐ yīnggāi dǎchē. Since I don't want to be late, I should take a cab.
• 因为 他 没有 钱，所以 找 不 到 女朋友。Yīnwèi tā méiyǒu qián, suǒyǐ zhǎo bù dào nǚpéngyou. He doesn't have any money, so he can't find a girlfriend.
• 奶奶 因为 太 老 了，所以 不能 坐 飞机。Nǎinai yīnwèi tài lǎo le, suǒyǐ bù néng zuò fēijī. Since grandma is too old, she can't take an airplane.
• 老师 因为 生病 了，所以 不能 来 上课。Lǎoshī yīnwèi shēngbìng le, suǒyǐ bù néng lái shàngkè. Since the teacher is sick, she can't come to the class.
• 因为 我 很 累，所以 想 休息。Yīnwèi wǒ hěn lèi, suǒyǐ xiǎng xiūxi. I'm very tired, so I want to rest.
• 因为 你 不 是 我，所以 你 不 明白。Yīnwèi nǐ bù shì wǒ, suǒyǐ nǐ bù míngbai. Since you aren't me, you don't understand.
• 因为 老板 今天 不 在，所以 请 你 明天 来。Yīnwèi lǎobǎn jīntiān bù zài, suǒyǐ qǐng nǐ míngtiān lái. Since the boss isn't here, please come tomorrow.
• 因为 他爸爸 死了，所以 他 很 难过。Yīnwèi tā bàba sǐ le, suǒyǐ tā hěn nánguò. His dad is dead, so he is very sad.
• 因为 太忙， 所以 我们 都 没有 时间 吃 中饭。 Yīnwèi tài máng, suǒyǐ méi shíjiān chī zhōngfàn. We were too busy, so none of us had time to eat lunch.

See also

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

Sources and further reading

Books

• Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 272-4) →buy
• Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (p. 79) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (p. 108) →buy

Websites

• Yale Chinese Usage Dictionary: How to use 因为 and 由于