為 — Benefactive: names the person the action is done for, who gains from it; the verb phrase follows.

TSUMUGU · TBCL 4 (est.) · 語法

為 grammar point · tier 1 · benefactive 為 (for someone, on their behalf)

· wèi

Benefactive: names the person the action is done for, who gains from it; the verb phrase follows.

字源 FORM what the parts do

A hand (爫) leads an elephant (象) at work; centuries of copying wore the elephant into the hooks and dots below. Read wèi, the labour turns toward someone — the one it is done for: 為你、為大家.

故事 STORY a scene to remember it by

The elephant hauls its load up to someone standing aside, and sets the whole gain down at their feet.

字源記憶法

框 · Frame

[subj] 為 [beneficiary] [verb phrase]

觸 · Trigger

You want to name the person the action benefits, the one it is done for.

序 · The move

1Name who gains from the action — the beneficiary — and put them right after 為.Is the slot after 為 a person or party who benefits, not a goal you aim at?

2Put the verb phrase — what is done for them — after that beneficiary.Does the gain land on the named person?

3Read it back: the subject acts, the named one receives the benefit — not the reverse.Swap subject and 為-phrase: if it still reads, the beneficiary is mis-slotted.

例 · Examples

1換工作有時會為wèi — for you, to your benefit你the one who gains帶來to bring (to)新的機會opportunity。

Changing jobs can sometimes bring you new opportunities.

界 · Boundary

為了

為 (wèi) reaches for a beneficiary — a person who gains (為你 'for you'); 為了 reaches for a goal not yet reached (為了健康 'for the sake of health'). Who benefits vs what you aim at.

替

為 names who gains from the action; 替 names whose place you step into to do it. 為他做 = do it to his benefit; 替他做 = do it in his stead, as a stand-in.

向

為 names the one the action benefits; 向 names the target the action is aimed at. 為他問 = ask for his benefit; 向他問 = put the question to him.

他為了我帶來好消息。 ✗ → 他為我帶來好消息。 ✓ (a person who gains takes 為, not 為了 — 為了 leads a goal)

這件事為我。 ✗ → 這件事為我帶來麻煩。 ✓ (state what is done for the beneficiary after 為)

我為帶來機會給他。 ✗ → 我為他帶來機會。 ✓ (name the beneficiary right after 為, before the verb)

English trails 'for you' in a tail phrase at the end; Chinese fronts the beneficiary right after 為, before the verb.