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为了 (wèi le) — for the purpose of, in order to, for the sake of

Definition

为了 (wèi le) marks a purpose or goal — 'in order to, for the sake of'. It precedes a noun/verb phrase as a preposition; 以便 is the formal conjunction that introduces a full purpose clause.

preposition
for the purpose ofin order tofor the sake of

Examples

  • 为了，。
    wèi le Jiàn kāng, wǒ měi tiān yùn dòng.
    For the sake of my health, I exercise every day.
  • 为了。
    Tā wèi le xué xí zhōng wén qù le zhōng guó.
    He went to China in order to study Chinese.
  • 为了，。
    wèi le Zhè cì kǎo shì, tā fù xí le hěn jiǔ.
    For this exam, she reviewed for a long time.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

为wèifor
了liǎoparticle

为, for, and 了 combine to mean for the sake of.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 為; 为 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 為 showed a hand holding an elephant; the simplified 为 is a later shorthand.

Open 为 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

了 was once drawn to show a baby with no arms; some old comments say it showed crossed or tangled legs.

Open 了 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3500 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 2.0 Level 31000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsCause, Effect & Logic2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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