Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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This practice works best alongside a lesson: to really get this grammar, book one and your teacher explains it and practises it with you.
因为……，所以…… — Because, So
关联词「因为……，所以……」
Cause first, result second, and a connector on each: 因为苹果手机太贵了，所以我买了小米手机。 The frame for every 为什么 you will ever be asked.
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Memory hook
因为 A，所以 B — either connector can stay home
Because, so
Three from the deck, then answers to the five 为什么 questions. Hear the comma between cause and result.
Tap any line to hear it
Cause, then effect先原因，后结果
No pressure — just making it stick.
____苹果手机太贵了，所以我买了小米手机。
____ Píngguǒ shǒujī tài guì le, suǒyǐ wǒ mǎi le xiǎomǐ shǒujī.
Because Apple phones are too expensive, I bought a Xiaomi.
The question every foreigner gets. Which reply uses the frame?
Because takeaway is unhealthy, I cook for myself every day.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
因为我每天都健身，____有很多肌肉。
Yīnwèi wǒ měitiān dōu jiànshēn, ____ Yǒu hěnduō jīròu.
Because I work out every day, I have a lot of muscle.
Your turn — say it
因为太贵了，所以我没买。
Because it was too expensive, I didn't buy it.
我不想去北京旅游，____北京太冷了。
Wǒ bù xiǎng qù Běijīng lǚyóu, ____ Běijīng tài lěng le.
I don't want to visit Beijing — because it's too cold.
Give each result its cause — pick from the bank.
Tap a word to fill the next gap; tap a filled sentence to clear it. Every word is used once.
Word bank
0/5Reasons, in pictures看图说原因
No pressure — just making it stick.
Four things from the deck's causes and effects. Match each picture, then build a 因为……所以…… around it.
Tap a picture, then choose its word. Picked wrong? Tap that picture and choose again. Match all the cards to finish.
Your turn — say it
因为我喜欢中国文化，所以我学中文。
Because I like Chinese culture, I learn Chinese.
Because it rained, I didn't go.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
Your turn — say it
苹果手机太贵了，所以我买了小米手机。
Apple phones are too expensive, so I bought a Xiaomi.
This lesson's characters
因 itself, and two words from the deck's causes: health and the outside the takeaway comes from.
cause; because
指a pointer
A person 大 lying on a mat 囗 — the old sense was 'to lean on, to rely upon'. What you rely on is what things depend on: a cause. 因为 is 'because of', 原因 is a reason, and 因此, 'because of this', is the written cousin of 所以. Picture the person on the mat whenever a reason is being given: everything after rests on it.
healthy, strong
形meaning + sound
A person 亻 beside 建, to build, which also gives the sound exactly: a well-built person. 健康 is health, 健身 is building the body — the gym — and 不健康 is the verdict on takeaway in this lesson. 因为我每天都健身，所以有很多肌肉 has 健 doing what it says.
outside
会two ideas joined
Evening 夕 and 卜, the crack read by a diviner: the old dictionaries say divination done in the evening, outside the proper morning hour — hence 'outside, beyond'. 外面 is outside, 外国人 is a foreigner, and 外卖, 'sold outside', is food that comes to your door. 因为外卖不健康，所以我自己做饭 — this lesson's healthiest sentence.
Take these with you
Everything worth taking away. Tap any line to hear it.
Words 生词
Characters 汉字
Before you go课后回顾
- Prepare your 因为 for 你为什么学中文 tonight and say it until it is automatic. You will use it more than any other sentence in this course.
- Take one thing you did today and explain it in the frame: 因为……，所以我……. Then drop 因为, then drop 所以, and hear how the temperature changes.
- Remember the one rule that never bends: the cause comes first. When the English wants to say 'because' second, turn the sentence round before it leaves your mouth.