Kilo Lingo

(wèi) - for, because of; to act as in Mandarin

wèi

Traditional: 為

Line drawing of 为
Coloured illustration of 为
HSK 2
#117 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

for, because of; to act as

Word origin

为 is the reduced modern form of 爲, which pictured a hand 爪 leading an elephant 象: to handle, to do, to make. The doing sense survives in the wéi reading, and the wèi reading extends it to doing something on someone's behalf.

Origin
pictograph
Root
simplified from 爲, a hand 爪 leading an elephant 象

Stroke order

Stroke order for 为

为

Examples

。

I am proud of you.

。

He works hard for his family.

顿dùn。

She made a meal for me.

。

Serve the people.

。

He later became a teacher.

为 (wèi) means for, because of, or on behalf of. 我为你骄傲 (wǒ wèi nǐ jiāo ào) is "I am proud of you", and 为人民服务 (wèi rén mín fú wù), "serve the people", is the slogan still painted on walls across China.

The trap is the tone, and it is worth meeting early. Read wèi, fourth tone, 为 points at the reason or the person you are acting for: 为什么 (wèi shén me), "why", is literally "for what". Read wéi, second tone, the same character means to do, to act as, or to be: 成为 (chéng wéi) is to become, 认为 (rèn wéi) is to reckon, and 以为 (yǐ wéi) is to think something that turns out to be wrong. Nothing in the writing separates the two, so learn the compound rather than the character on its own.

One more distinction that catches beginners: 为 and 为了 (wèi le) are not interchangeable. 为 usually takes the person or cause you are acting for, so 为你 (wèi nǐ) is "for you". 为了 takes the purpose you are acting towards, so 为了钱 (wèi le qián) is "for the sake of money".

Where this fits

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Appears in 11 words

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 为.

为什么wèishénmewhy为什么wèi shén mewhy, for what reason因为yīn wèibecause, since认为rèn wéito think, to believe, to consider为了wèi lefor the sake of, in order to以为yǐ wéito think (mistakenly), to assume成为chéng wéito become, to turn into是因为shì yīn wèiit is because, it is due to作为zuò wéias, in the capacity of; conduct, achievement为何wèi héwhy, for what reason行为xíng wéibehaviour, conduct, action

Used in

Grammar articles

(18)

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为: worksheet, infographic and listicle

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This word is part of lesson 3.