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.

为了 as a preposition

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.

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

Structure

为了+ [Purpose]，Subject + Predicate

Examples

• 为了 钱 ， 他 出卖 了 朋友 。 money is the purposeWèile qián, tā chūmài le péngyou.He betrayed his friends for money.
• 为了 给 他 太太 庆祝生日，他 办 了 一 个 盛大的 派对 。 the wife benefitsWèile gěi tā tàitài qìngzhù shēngrì, tā bàn le yī gè shèngdà de pàiduì.He threw a grand 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 让 自己 有 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 ràng zìjǐ yǒu 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.
• 为了 让 孩子 一 生下来 就 是 美国人，中国 很多 有钱人 都 在 美国 生孩子。for their kids to become an American citizen as soon as they're born is the purposeWèile ràng háizi yīshēng xiàlái jiùshì Měiguó rén, Zhōngguó hěn duō yǒuqiánrén dōu zài Měiguó shēng háizi.In order to make their child an American citizen, a lot of rich Chinese people stay in the United States during their pregnancy.

为了 after 是

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.
• 我 离开 中国 是 为了 去 美国 结婚 。Wǒ (zhīsuǒyǐ) líkāi zhōngguó shì wèile qù Měiguó jiéhūn.The reason I left China was to go to the United States to get married.
• 他俩 一直 不要 孩子 是 为了 多 点 时间 享受 二人世界 。Tā liǎ (zhīsuǒyǐ) yīzhí bùyào háizi shì wèile duō diǎn shíjiān xiǎngshòu èrrénshìjiè.The reason they don't want to have kids is so they can spend more time with each other.

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