目的 mùdì — purpose, goal, aim
mùdì (fourth tone, falling)mu4di4
purpose, goal, aim
HSK 4· HSK 1–4 (classic)nounMeasure word 个
Meanings
purpose, goal, aim
目, the eye, and 的, the mark it is fixed on — literally what one is aiming at. It is the noun of intention, usually announced with 是: 我的目的是学好汉语, my purpose is to learn Chinese well.
noun
Character breakdown
Common combinations
- 达到目的dádào (second tone, rising) mùdì (fourth tone, falling)
to achieve one’s purpose, to reach one’s goal
Example sentences
- 我学习汉语的目的是找一个好工作。我學習漢語的目的是找一個好工作。Wǒ (third tone, dipping) xuéxí (second tone, rising) Hànyǔ (fourth tone, falling) de (neutral tone) mùdì (fourth tone, falling) shì (fourth tone, falling) zhǎo (third tone, dipping) yí (second tone, rising) ge (neutral tone) hǎo (third tone, dipping) gōngzuò. (first tone, high and level)···
My purpose in studying Chinese is to find a good job.
- 他做这件事没有别的目的，只是想帮助你。他做這件事沒有別的目的，只是想幫助你。Tā (first tone, high and level) zuò (fourth tone, falling) zhè (fourth tone, falling) jiàn (fourth tone, falling) shì (fourth tone, falling) méiyǒu (second tone, rising) bié (second tone, rising) de (neutral tone) mùdì, (fourth tone, falling) zhǐshì (third tone, dipping) xiǎng (third tone, dipping) bāngzhù (first tone, high and level) nǐ. (third tone, dipping)···
He has no other purpose in doing this — he just wants to help you.
Common mistakes
Not quite我为了目的是学好汉语。
Correct我的目的是学好汉语。／我学习汉语是为了找一个好工作。
为了 and 目的 say the same kind of thing in two different grammatical shapes — 为了 is a preposition placed before the goal, 目的 is a noun that needs 是. Fusing the two into one clause is the mistake; pick one shape or the other.