Expressing purpose with "weile"
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Level
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Similar to
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Used for
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Keywords
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.
Contents
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 。He's willing to do anything for money.
- 为了 庆祝 太太 的 生日，他 办 了 一 个 很 大 的 派对 。He threw a huge party to celebrate his wife's birthday.
- 为了 孩子 的 未来 ，他 决定 搬到 上海 。In order to give his child a good future, he decided to move to Shanghai.
- 为了 有 个 更好 的 语言 环境 ，我 打算 去 中国 留学 一 年 。Wèile 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。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
Sources and further reading
Podcasts
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
