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
Sources and further
reading
Podcasts
Books
Websites
Category:B1 grammar points