44 expressing cause and effect or reason and result
44.1 expressing cause and effect or reason and result in
a single sentence
Mandarin uses the paired connecting words 因为/因為 yīnwei ‘because/since’... 所以 suǒyǐ
‘therefore’... to express cause and effect or reason and result. 因为/因為 yīnwei and
所以 suǒyǐ occur at the beginning of their clauses or right before the predicate. They can occur
in the same sentence.
因为他没有很多钱，所以他不随便买东西。
因為他沒有很多錢，所以他不隨便買東西。
Yīnwei tā méi yǒu hěn duō qián, suǒyǐ tā bù suíbiàn mǎi dōngxi.
Because he doesn’t have a lot of money, therefore he doesn’t casually buy things.44.1.1 omission of subjects in 因为/因為 yCnwei... 所以 suIyH... sentences
When the subjects of the 因为/因為 yīnwei clause and the 所以 suǒyǐ clause are identical, the
subject is often omitted in the second (所以 suǒyǐ) clause. In that case, 因为/因為 yīnwei
is usually placed after the subject of the first clause.
我最近因为忙，所以没给你打电话。
我最近因為忙，所以沒給你打電話。
Wǒ zuìjìn yīnwei máng, suǒyǐ méi gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà.
Because I have been busy recently, I haven’t called you.When the subjects of the two clauses are identical, the subject may also be omitted from the
first clause. This sentence is acceptable with or without 所以 suǒyǐ.
因为有事，(所以)王先生请假了。
因為有事，(所以)王先生請假了。
Yīnwei yǒu shì, (suǒyǐ) Wáng xiānsheng qǐng jià le.
Because he had business to attend to, Mr. Wang asked for time off.44.1.2 relative order of the 因为/因為 yCnwei and 所以 suIyH clauses
The position of the 所以 suǒyǐ clause is fixed. It must come second in the sentence, after
a clause that introduces the cause.
Say this Not this因为他是中国人，所以他会说中国话。 *所以他会说中国话，因为他是中国人
因為他是中國人，所以他會說中國話。 所以他會說中國話，因為他是中國人
Yīnwei tā shì Zhōngguó rén, suǒyǐ tā
huì shuō Zhōngguó huà.Suǒyǐ tā huì shuō Zhōngguó huà,
yīnwei tā shì Zhōngguó rén.
Because he is Chinese, (therefore) he can speak Chinese.