How to say because, so and therefore in Chinese

因为…，所以… — because …, so …HSK 2

Chinese usually keeps BOTH halves of the pair, while English drops one of them. 因为 opens the reason, 所以 opens the result.

因为下雨了，所以我们没出去。 — Because it rained, we didn't go out.

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…，所以…HSK 2

所以 (suǒyǐ) introduces the result of what was said before: '..., so ...', e.g. 天气不好，所以我们不去了.

我不知道买什么，所以问了姐姐。 — I didn't know what to buy, so I asked my older sister.

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于是 (so; as a result)HSK 3

于是 links two clauses to show the second happened as a natural result of the first.

于是我们决定周六见面。— So we decided to meet on Saturday.

Seen in 我同意健身房

随着…… — Along with / as...HSK 4

Introduces a change that accompanies or causes another change.

随着年龄越来越大，认识新朋友的机会越来越少。— As they get older, opportunities to meet new friends become fewer.

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在于HSK 4

"(The key/problem) lies in..." points to where the real cause is: 问题在于我们是不是清楚自己真正需要什么。

成功的关键在于坚持。— The key to success lies in persistence.

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之所以…，是因为…HSK 5

Puts the result first and the cause second: 'the reason why A is that B'. It highlights the explanation, e.g. 我之所以学汉语，是因为想去中国工作.

家长们之所以这么焦虑，是因为他们相信教育是改变命运的唯一机会。 — The reason parents are so anxious is that they believe education is the only chance to change one's fate.

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关键在于……HSK 5

'The key lies in...' — points out the decisive factor for solving a problem.

要减少代沟,关键在于交流。

Seen in 代沟集体与个人

不在于…，而在于… — 'does not lie in A, but in B'HSK 6

A formal pattern for correcting where the real significance of something lies, often used to conclude an essay's argument.

数字货币真正的价值，不在于它能不能一夜暴富，而在于它提供了一种可行的技术方案。 — The true value of digital currency lies not in getting rich overnight, but in offering a workable technical solution.

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How to use this page

These 8 patterns all do the same job in Chinese, so they are worth seeing side by side — the differences between them are easier to feel when they are next to each other than when they are spread across six HSK levels. They range from HSK 2–6.

Grammar sticks through reading, not through lists. Each entry links to the reading it was taken from. Skim the page, then go read one of them and come back when a sentence stops making sense.

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