The differences between ‘为了’ and ‘因为’

为了 (wèile) and 因为 (yīnwèi) both have the character "为" in them, and they have sort of similar meanings: 为了 means "in order to" and 因为 means "because". Using them properly is important if you want to master Chinese!

“为了”和“因为”两者都含有“为”这个字，而且它们有着相似的意思：“为了”表示“in order to”，“因为”表示“because”。要想掌握好中文，正确使用它们很重要。

为了

为了 can be used to mean "in order to", basically expressing some purpose. It can be put in the beginning or end of a sentence, and it can also be placed after the subject.

“为了”可用于表示“in order to”，基本上是表达某种目的。它可放于句首或者句尾，还可以放在主语的后面。

为了+ purpose, Subject + Predicate

Examples

wèi le yǒu yí fèn hǎo gōng zuò, tā qù le shàng hǎi.

为了有一份好工作，他去了上海。

In order to get a good job, he went to Shanghai.

wèi le zì jǐ de jiāng lái, wǒ men yīng gāi hǎo hao xué xí.

为了自己的将来，我们应该好好学习。

For a good future for ourselves, we should really study hard.

wèi le xué hǎo zhōng wén, tā lái dào le zhōng guó.

为了学好中文，他来到了中国。

In order to learn Chinese well, he came to China.

If 为了 is put in the middle of a sentence, it is often followed with an 而.

如果“为了”是放在句子的中间，那它经常会跟上“而”。

Subject + 为了 + 目的 + (而) Predicate

Examples

All of these examples mean the same thing as the ones above. The different order of 为了 doesn't affect the meaning!

以下的例子的意思跟上述的一样。“为了”的不同词序并不会影响到意思。

他为了有一份好工作而去了上海。

我们为了自己的将来应该好好学习。

他为了能学好中文而来到了中国。

因为

The simplest definition of 因为 is "because". When used at the beginning of a sentence, it is often used with 所以to express a cause and effect relationship.

“因为”的最简单的意思是“because”。用于句首时，它常常会与“所以”一起使用，用以表达因果关系。

因为 + reason, 所以 + result

Examples

yīn wèi tā xiǎng yǒu yí fèn hǎo gōng zuò, suǒ yǐ tā qù le shàng hǎi.

因为他想有一份好工作，所以他去了上海。

Because he wants to get a good job, he went to Shanghai.

yīn wèi wǒ xiǎng yǒu yí gè hǎo de jiāng lái, suǒ yǐ wǒ xiàn zài hǎo hao xué xí.

因为我想有一个好的将来，所以我现在好好学习。

Because I want to have a good future, I'm going to study well now.

yīn wèi tā xiǎng xué hǎo zhōng wén, suǒ yǐ tā lái dào le zhōng guó.

因为他想学好中文，所以他来到了中国。

Because he wants to study Chinese well, he came to China.

Translated from: allsetlearning