Difference between revisions of "Expressing "for" with "wei""
| Line 37: | Line 37: | ||
* [[Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼)]] (pp.76) [http://www.amazon.cn/mn/detailApp/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&tag=allset-23&linkCode=as2&asin=B001N6R7DI&camp=536&creative=3132&creativeASIN=B001N6R7DI →buy] | * [[Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼)]] (pp.76) [http://www.amazon.cn/mn/detailApp/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&tag=allset-23&linkCode=as2&asin=B001N6R7DI&camp=536&creative=3132&creativeASIN=B001N6R7DI →buy] | ||
* [[Boya Chinese Lower Intermediate 1 (博雅汉语准中级加速篇)]] (pp. 203) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7301075308/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=7301075308 →buy] | * [[Boya Chinese Lower Intermediate 1 (博雅汉语准中级加速篇)]] (pp. 203) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7301075308/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=7301075308 →buy] | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Websites=== | ||
| + | |||
| + | *Yale Chinese Usage Dictionary: [http://comet.cls.yale.edu/chineseusagedictionary/0236.html/ Uses of 为 and 为了] | ||
[[Category:B1 grammar points]] | [[Category:B1 grammar points]] | ||
Revision as of 06:30, 17 June 2013
-
Level
-
Similar to
-
Used for
-
Keywords
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 party] + V
Examples
- 为 人民 服务。Serve the people
- 他 为 他 父亲 工作。He works for his parents.
- 她 为 美国 政府 工作。She works for the United States government.
- 老师 总是 为 学生 操心。The teacher cares about the students.
- 公司 为 她 提供 了 很 多 资源。The company provided her with many resources.
See also
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) (pp. 238) →buy
- Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp.76) →buy
- Boya Chinese Lower Intermediate 1 (博雅汉语准中级加速篇) (pp. 203) →buy
Websites
- Yale Chinese Usage Dictionary: Uses of 为 and 为了
