…好…grammar point · tier 1 · purposive 好 (so that … can; clearing the way for)
· hǎo
Joins two clauses so the first does the groundwork and 好 opens onto the second: the thing the first clears the way for, now able to happen.
字源 FORM what the parts do
好 is a woman (女) beside her child (子), the well, alright sense of good. Read hǎo, it carries works out, comes out fine. It sits between two clauses, head of the second, switching it from a separate statement into the outcome the first now opens onto.
故事 STORY a scene to remember it by
A latch lifts, and the door behind it swings clear onto the room you were heading for.
字源記憶法
框 · Frame
[clause 1: the action that clears the way], 好 [clause 2: what can now happen / 好讓 someone do it].
觸 · Trigger
You do one thing first to clear the way, and you reach for the good thing it lets happen next.
序 · The move
1State the action that does the groundwork — the thing done first.Is clause 1 a real action being taken, not a goal still only wished for?
2Put 好 at the head of the second clause, naming what that groundwork now lets happen.Does clause 2 read as the outcome the first cleared the way for, looking forward — not a cause looking back?
3Where the good outcome is for someone else, run 好讓 [person] [verb].If the second clause states a settled fact rather than an enabled outcome, 好 is the wrong hinge.
例 · Examples
1自己在國外abroad生活to live，記得有空have free time多more / often打電話to phone回家，好讓so that (someone) can家人放心to be at ease / stop worrying。
Living abroad on your own, remember to phone home often when you have time, so that your family can stop worrying.
為了 puts the goal FIRST and the action after it (為了健康，他早睡); …好… puts the action FIRST and the purpose-clause after, hinged on 好 (他早睡，好養好身體). Goal-then-action vs action-then-good-outcome.
Same 好, opposite move: 只好 settles for the one course left when others are shut off (no choice); …好… clears a path forward so a good thing can happen (the way opened, not closed).
因為…所以… reports a cause already true and its result, looking back; …好… looks forward — clause 1 is done on purpose so clause 2 becomes possible, an aim not a finished fact.
好讓家人放心，多打電話回家。 ✗ → 多打電話回家，好讓家人放心。 ✓ (好 hinges the second clause; the groundwork action comes first, the enabled outcome after.)
我多打電話回家，好家人放心了。 ✗ → 我多打電話回家，好讓家人放心。 ✓ (when the good outcome is someone else's, run 好讓 + person, not 好 straight onto a settled fact.)
因為我打電話回家，好家人放心。 ✗ → 我打電話回家，好讓家人放心。 ✓ (no 因為 fronts this; clause 1 stands as the action taken to clear the way, not a stated cause.)
English so that covers both purpose (do X so that Y can happen) and result (it broke, so that we left). …好… is only the forward, purposive sense; for a backward result reach for 所以/結果.