Expressing "for" with "wei"

Revision as of 04:09, 24 May 2017 by WikiSysop (talk | contribs) (Text replacement - ". </span>" to ".</span>")

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] + Verb

Examples

  • 我 做 了 很 多 事 。 wèi wǒ zuò le hěn duō shì.He's done a lot for me.
  • 我们 都 你 高兴 。 Wǒmen dōu wèi nǐ gāoxìng.We are all happy for you.
  • 你们 可以 来 我们 加油 。 Nǐmen kěyǐ lái wèi wǒmen jiāyóu.You can come to cheer us up.
  • 美国 政府 工作。wèi Měiguó zhèngfǔ gōngzuò.She works for the United States government.
  • 人民 服务。Wèi rénmín fúwù.Serve the people.
  • 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