Expressing purpose with "weile"

为了 (wèile) is most often used to indicate the purpose of an action, or the person that will benefit from some act of kindness. In the "purpose" sense, it corresponds pretty well to "in order to" or "for the purpose of" in English.

Basic Pattern

When 为了 indicates the purpose of an action, it's usually acting as a preposition. In this role, the whole "为了 phrase" should come before the verb.

Structure

为了 ⋯⋯ ，Subj. ⋯⋯

Note also that 为了 is a single word; the 了 here is not serving its role as a particle in this case.

Examples

• 为了 钱 ， 他 什么 都 愿意 做 。money is the purposeWèile qián, tā shénme dōu yuànyì zuò.He's willing to do anything for money.
• 为了 给 太太 庆祝 生日，他 办 了 一 个 很 大 的 派对 。the wife benefitsWèile gěi tā tàitài qìngzhù shēngrì, tā bàn le yī gè hěn dà de pàiduì.He threw a huge party to celebrate his wife's birthday.
• 为了 有 一个 好 的 未来， 我 必须 好好 学习 。having a good future is the purposeWèile yǒu yī gè hǎo de wèilái, wǒ bìxū hǎo hào xuéxí.In order to have a good future, I have to study hard.
• 为了 有 个 更好 的 语言 环境， 我 打算 去 中国 留学 一 年 。having a better language-learning environment is the purposeWèile yǒu gè gèng hǎo de yǔyán huánjìng, wǒ dǎsuàn qù zhōngguó liúxué yī nián.In order to have a better language-learning environment, I plan to go to study in China for 1 year.

Usage of 是为了

Sometimes you will see 为了 coming after 是. In this case, it often goes with 之所以 (a more difficult pattern, not explored here), which means "the reason why" in a more formal way.

Structure

⋯⋯是 + 为了 + Purpose / Reason

Example

• 我 这么做 是 为了 给 你 一个 更好 的 未来。Wǒ (zhīsuǒyǐ) zhème zuò shì wèile gěi nǐ yī gè gèng hǎo de weìlái.The reason I did all this was to give you a better future.
• 她 离职 是 为了 出国 生 孩子 。The reason why she left the job is to go abroad and deliver the baby.

See Also

• "For" with "wei"

Sources and further reading

Podcasts

• Chinesepod Qingwen 为 and 为了

Books

• Home With Kids1 (家有儿女1) (p.32) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (p. 40) →buy
• 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 (p. 12) →buy

Websites

• Yale Chinese Usage Dictionary: Uses of 为 and 为了