Dictionary › 所以

所以

suǒ yǐ

Old HSK 2 HSK 3.0 level 2 2-character word

所以 (suǒ yǐ) means "therefore". It is an HSK 3.0 level 2 word, and was HSK 2 in the old six-level list.

What 所以 means

1. therefore
2. as a result
3. so
4. the reason why

How 所以 is used in grammar

所以 is a grammar word. Each link goes to its own section: what it does in that pattern, the structure, three example sentences with pinyin, and the mistake to avoid.

• Causal Sentences: 因为…所以 (HSK 2)

The official HSK 3.0 grammar outline lists it at level 2, conjunctions (连接分句或者句子).

The characters in 所以

• 所suǒactually; place; classifier for houses, small buildings, institutions etc
• 以yǐto use; by means of; according to

Example sentences

• 所以？
  And so?
• 我很累所以早睡了。
  I was very tired, so I went to bed early.
• 所以他没有去学校。
  So he didn't go to school.
• 所以，哪里有问题？
  So, where's the problem?
• 所以我才会一直输。
  That’s why I keep losing.
• 我累了，所以我没去。
  I was tired, so I didn't go.

Words starting with 所以

• 所以然suǒ yǐ ránthe reason why

Words containing 所以

• 之所以zhī suǒ yǐ(after a noun N and before a predicate P) the reason why N P; Example: 我之所以讨厌他
• 忘乎所以wàng hū suǒ yǐ(idiom) to get carried away; to lose one's sense of proportion
• 不知所以bù zhī suǒ yǐ(idiom) to not know the reason; (idiom) to not know what to do
• 知其然而不知其所以然zhī qí rán ér bù zhī qí suǒ yǐ rán(saying) to know that it is so but not why it is so
• 忘其所以wàng qí suǒ yǐsee 忘乎所以

Where 所以 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Conjunctions and Discourse Adverbs (HSK 2), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 2 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read suǒ yǐ correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.