Difference between revisions of "Expressing "for" with "wei""

m (Text replacement - "xuéshēng" to "xuésheng")
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* 我 <em>为</em>公司 做了一个市场调查。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ <em>wèi</em> gōngsī zuò le yī gè shìchǎng diàochá.</span><span class="trans">I did a market research for our company.</span>
 
* 我 <em>为</em>公司 做了一个市场调查。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ <em>wèi</em> gōngsī zuò le yī gè shìchǎng diàochá.</span><span class="trans">I did a market research for our company.</span>
 
* 她 <em>为</em> 美国 政府 工作。<span class="pinyin">Tā <em>wèi</em> Měiguó zhèngfǔ gōngzuò.</span><span class="trans">She works for the United States government.</span>
 
* 她 <em>为</em> 美国 政府 工作。<span class="pinyin">Tā <em>wèi</em> Měiguó zhèngfǔ gōngzuò.</span><span class="trans">She works for the United States government.</span>
* 老师 总是 <em>为</em> 学生 操心。<span class="pinyin">Lǎoshī zǒng shì <em>wèi</em> xuéshēng cāoxīn.</span><span class="trans">The teacher cares about the students.</span>
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* 老师 总是 <em>为</em> 学生 操心。<span class="pinyin">Lǎoshī zǒng shì <em>wèi</em> xuésheng cāoxīn.</span><span class="trans">The teacher cares about the students.</span>
 
* 公司 <em>为</em> 她 提供 了 很 多 资源。<span class="pinyin">Gōngsī <em>wèi</em> tā tígōng le hěn duō zīyuán.</span><span class="trans">The company provided her with many resources.</span>
 
* 公司 <em>为</em> 她 提供 了 很 多 资源。<span class="pinyin">Gōngsī <em>wèi</em> tā tígōng le hěn duō zīyuán.</span><span class="trans">The company provided her with many resources.</span>
  

Revision as of 15:40, 18 February 2016

When you work for a company, or do other sorts of physical (and even mental) activities for another party, you're likely to use the Chinese preposition 为 (wèi), which is often translated into English as "for," a translation which is often unnatural or unnecessary, depending on the particular phrase. The super common Mao-era phrase, 为人民服务 ("serve the people"), doesn't need the word "for" in English, for example.

Don't confuse this preposition with 为了, which is a bit different.

Structure

为 + [some part] + V

Examples

  • 人民 服务。Wèi rénmín fúwùServe the people
  • 公司 做了一个市场调查。wèi gōngsī zuò le yī gè shìchǎng diàochá.I did a market research for our company.
  • 美国 政府 工作。wèi Měiguó zhèngfǔ gōngzuò.She works for the United States government.
  • 老师 总是 学生 操心。Lǎoshī zǒng shì wèi xuésheng cāoxīn.The teacher cares about the students.
  • 公司 她 提供 了 很 多 资源。Gōngsī wèi tā tígōng le hěn duō zīyuán.The company provided her with many resources.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites