Explaining causes with "yinwei"

A common way to explain causes in Chinese is with 因为 (yīnwèi). This is almost entirely equivalent to "because" in English. Usually 因为 (yīnwèi) will begin a new phrase in a sentence.

Structure

In this structure, we first state the result, and then give the reason in the next statement after the 因为 (yīnwèi).

Result ，因为 + Reason

Examples

• 他 学习 很 好， 因为 他 很 聪明。Tā xuéxí hěn hǎo, yīnwèi tā hěn cōngming. He studies well because he is smart.
• 她 喜欢 你 ， 因为 你 很 帅。 Tā xǐhuan nǐ, yīnwèi nǐ hěn shuài. She likes you because you are handsome.
• 我 在 学习 中文 ， 因为 我 想 去 中国。Wǒ zài xuéxí Zhōngwén, yīnwèi wǒ xiǎng qù Zhōngguó. I am studying Chinese because I want to go to China.
• 我 不 喜欢 她，因为 她 很 不 友好。Wǒ bù xǐhuan tā, yīnwèi tā hěn bù yǒuhǎo. I don't like her because she is very unfriendly.
• 爸爸 不 太 舒服，因为 昨天 喝 了 太 多 酒。 Bàba bù tài shūfu, yīnwèi zuótiān hē le tài duō jiǔ. Dad is not feeling very well because he drank too much alcohol yesterday.
• 今天 他 没 去 上课 ， 因为 他 生病 了。Jīntiān tā méi qù shàngkè, yīnwèi tā shēngbìng le. He didn't go to school today because he's sick.
• 妈妈 很 累，因为 家里 有 三 个 孩子。Māma hěn lèi, yīnwèi jiālǐ yǒu sānge háizi. Mom is exhausted because there are three kids in the house.
• 他们 没 去 杭州 ，因为 天气 非常 热 。Tāmen méi qù Hángzhōu, yīnwèi tiānqì fēicháng rè. They didn't go to Hangzhou because the weather was very hot.
• 上 个 月 我 不 在 上海，因为 我 去 南京 出差 了。Shàng ge yuè wǒ bù zài Shànghǎi, yīnwèi wǒ qù Nánjīng chūchāi le. I wasn't in Shanghai last month because I went to Nanjing on a business trip.
• 他 没 上 过 大学，因为 他家 没钱。Tā méi shàng guo dàxué, yīnwèi tā jiā méiqián. He's never been to college because his family doesn't have the money.

See also

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

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) (p. 272) →buy

HSK3