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<title>Expressing purpose with "weile"</title>
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<h1>Expressing purpose with "weile"
</h1>

<p>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 almost exactly corresponds to "in order to" or "for the purpose of" in English.</p>

<h2>Contents</h2>

  
<div class="contents"><ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">1 Basic Usage </span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">1.1 Structure </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">1.2 Examples </span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">2 Expressing "The reason why" </span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">2.1 Structure </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">2.2 Example </span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">3 See also </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">4 Sources and further reading </span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">4.1 Books </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">4.2 Websites </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">4.3 Podcasts</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<h2>Basic Usage</h2>

<p>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.</p>

<h3>Structure</h3>

<div class="deux">为了 ⋯⋯ ，Subj. ⋯⋯</div>
<p>Note also that 为了 is a single word; the 了 here is not serving its role as a particle in this case.</p>

<h3>Examples</h3>
<ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">为了 钱 ，他 什么 都 愿意 做 。
Wèile qián, tā shénme dōu yuànyì zuò.
He's willing to do anything for money. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">为了 孩子 的 未来 ，他 决定 搬到 上海 。
Wèile háizi de wèilái, tā juédìng bāndào Shànghǎi.
He decided to move to Shanghai for his children's future. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">为了 这个 面试 ，他 买 了 一 套 很 贵 的 西服 。
Wèile zhège miànshì, tā mǎi le yī tào hěn guì de xīfú.
He bought a very expensive suit for this job interview. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">为了 找 灵感 ，那个 作家 搬到 了 农村 。
Wèile zhǎo línggǎn, nàge zuòjiā bān dào le nóngcūn.
In order to find inspiration, that writer moved to the countryside. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">五年 前 ，为了 女朋友 ，他 放弃 了 上海 的 工作。
wǔniánqián，Wèile nǚpéngyǒu, tā fàngqì le Shànghǎi de gongzuò.
Five years ago he passed up a job in Shanghai for his girlfriend. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">为了 奖励 大家 ，公司 明年 带 你们 去 日本 旅行 。
Wèile jiǎnglì dàjiā, gōngsī míngnián dài nǐmen qù Rìběn lǚxíng.
In order to reward everyone, the company will take you all on a trip to Japan next year.</span><br/></li>
</ul>
<h2>Expressing "The reason why"</h2>

<p>Sometimes you will see 为了 following 是. In this case, 为了 mean "for." Note that 为了 and 因为 both have the character 为 in them, and they have sort of similar meanings.You will also see 因为 following 是, instead of 为了. It literally means "is because."</p>

<h3>Structure</h3>

<div class="deux">⋯⋯ 是 + 为了 / 因为 ⋯⋯</div>

<h3>Example</h3>

<div class="exemple"><ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">你 学 中文 是 因为 你 的 中国 女朋友 吗 ？
Nǐ xué Zhōngwén shì yīnwèi nǐde Zhōngguó nǚ péngyou ma?
Are you studying Chinese for your Chinese girlfriend? </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">我 这么 做 是 为了 帮 你 。
Wǒ zhème zuò shì wèile bāng nǐ.
I did all this to help you. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">他 做 兼职 是 为了 多 赚 点 钱 。
Tā zuò jiānzhí shì wèile duō zhuàn diǎn qián.
The reason why he has a part time job is to make a little more money. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">我们 之 所以 反对 是 因为 风险 太 大 。
Wǒmen zhī suǒyǐ fǎnduì shì yīnwèi fēngxiǎn tài dà.
The reason why we disagree is because the risk is too high.</span><br/></li>
</ul>
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<p>Note that 之所以 is a more difficult pattern, which means "the reason why" in a more formal way.</p>

<h3>See also</h3>

<div class="See-also"><ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">Expressing "for" with "wei" </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">Expressing purpose with "hao" </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">Using "lai" to connect two verb phrases </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">Stating the effect before the cause</span><br/></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Sources and further reading
</h3>
<h4>Books</h4>

<div class="See-also"><ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">Home With Kids1 (家有儿女1) (pp. 32) →buy </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (pp. 40) →buy </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">卓越汉语－公司实战篇 (pp. 12) [ →buy] </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">现代汉语虚词例释 (pp. 484, 572) →buy </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 20px;">Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 347-8) →buy</span><br/></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h4>Websites</h4>

<div class="See-also"><div class="See-also">Yale Chinese Usage Dictionary: Uses of 为 and 为了</div>
</div>
<h4>Podcasts</h4>

<div class="See-also"><ul><li><span style="font-size: 20px;">Chinesepod Qingwen 为 and 为了</span><br/></li>
</ul>
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