Chinese word

为了

Pronunciation

Pinyinwèi le

Meaning

  • prepositionfor

Example

你为了什么那么忙？nǐ wèi le shén me nà me máng

What are you so busy for?

Illustration for 为了 (for)

More examples

学生为了考试晚上复习到很晚。xué shēng wèi le kǎo shì wǎn shàng fù xí dào hěn wǎn

The student studies until late at night for the exam.

Core concept

A planned action is arranged around the result it is meant to achieve.

Common phrases

  • 为了考试wèi le kǎo shì

    for the exam

  • 为了将来wèi le jiāng lái

    for the future

Similar words

为wèi: Introduces the purpose that an action is meant to serve in a concise way.

Definition in Chinese

表示为达到某个目标而采取的行为或安排，常用于引出目的成分，结构常为“为了＋目的”。biǎo shì wèi dá dào mǒu gè mù biāo ér cái qǔ de xíng wéi huò ān pái cháng yòng yú yǐn chū mù dì chéng fèn jié gòu cháng wèi wèi le mù dì

Word origin

The character 为 (wèi, "for") supplies the idea of purpose, while 了 (le, "grammatical particle") helps form the fixed expression 为了 (wèile, "for a purpose").

Usage tips

  • Putting the purpose phrase first can make the reason for a later action clear before the action appears.

Word lists with this word