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. It is quite common for 因为 (yīnwèi) to be shortened to just 为 (wèi).

Examples

  • 因为 我 饿了 , 所以 我 要 吃饭 。 Yīnwèi wǒ è le, suǒyǐ wǒ yào chīfàn. Since I'm hungry, I will go eat.
  • 奶奶 因为 太 老 了, 所以 �不能 坐 飞机。 Yīnwèi nǐ chídào le, suǒyǐ yào shuō duìbùqǐ. Since you are late, you are going to say "I'm sorry".
  • 因为 想 去 中国 工作, 所以 要 学 中文 。 Yīnwèi xiǎng qù Zhōngguó gōngzuò, suǒyǐ yào xué Zhōngwén. Since I want to go to China to work, I am going to study Chinese.
  • 因为 我 不 想 迟到, 所以 我 应该 打车。 Yīnwèi wǒ huì shuō Zhōngwén, suǒyǐ wǒ yào qù Zhōngguó. Since I can speak Chinese, I am going to go to China.
  • 因为 他 没有 钱 , 所以 �找 不 到 女朋友 。 Yīnwèi méiyǒu qián, suǒyǐ méiyǒu nǚpéngyou. I don't have any money, so I don't have a girlfriend.
  • 因为 很 累 , 所以 �需要 休息 。 Yīnwèi 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 tā bù zài zhèlǐ, suǒyǐ wǒ gěi tā dǎdiànhuà. Since he isn't here, I called him.
  • 因为 �他爸爸 死了, 所以 他 很 难过。 Yīnwèi nǐ méi lái, suǒyǐ tā hěn bù gāoxìng. You didn't come, so he is very unhappy.
  • 因为 太忙, 所以 我们 中午 都 没有 时间 去 吃饭。 Yīnwèi tài rè, suǒyǐ wǒ yào hē bīng kělè. It's too hot, so I'm going to drink some iced Coke.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

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