Causal Sentences: 因为…所以

Chinese grammar · HSK 2 · 因果复句 · By Carson 木林森

因为 (yīnwèi, 'because') introduces the reason; 所以 (suǒyǐ, 'so/therefore') introduces the result. Structure: 因为 + Reason，所以 + Result.

因为 yīn wèi because 所以 suǒ yǐ therefore

Either half can be dropped if context is clear:
- 因为下雨，所以我们没有去。(full form)
- 我们没有去，因为下雨。(因为-clause after the result, no 所以 needed)

But when BOTH appear together, 因为 must come first and 所以 must come before the result — never reversed.

❌ 所以下雨，因为我们没有去。(reversed order — wrong)
✅ 因为下雨，所以我们没有去。

Worked examples

Chinese	Pinyin	English	What it shows
因为今天很冷，所以我穿了很多衣服。	Yīn wèi jīn tiān hěn lěng, suǒ yǐ wǒ chuān le hěn duō yī fu.	Because today is very cold, I wore a lot of clothes.	Minimal 因为...所以 frame with a simple reason and result.
因为他没有钱，所以不能买那本书。	Yīn wèi tā méi yǒu qián, suǒ yǐ bù néng mǎi nà běn shū.	Because he doesn't have money, he can't buy that book.	Adds the modal 不能 in the result clause.
我今天很累，因为我昨天晚上没睡好。	Wǒ jīn tiān hěn lèi, yīn wèi wǒ zuó tiān wǎn shang méi shuì hǎo.	I'm very tired today, because I didn't sleep well last night.	Reordered form — result first, 因为-clause after, no 所以 needed.

Produce this pattern without stopping to think about it. GraphChinese drills Causal Sentences across 12 exercises and schedules the review that keeps it.

What you need first

Every topic in GraphChinese names its own prerequisites, and these are the grammar points this one is built on. If a sentence here will not parse, one of them is why.

What this opens up

These patterns list Causal Sentences among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.

Prepositions of Cause & Purpose

Causal Sentences is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.

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