Cause and result: 因为…所以…
Chinese marks both halves of a cause-and-result sentence: 因为 opens the reason, 所以 opens the result. The reason always comes first.
Structure
因为 + 原因，所以 + 结果
Explanation
Chinese words in this text can be activated to show a dictionary gloss.
Chinese states a cause and its result as a matched pair: ， “Because it rained today, we didn’t go to the park.” English uses only one of the two words — “because” or “so”, never both — and copying that habit produces sentences with nothing marking the second half. Keeping both is the form to learn first; it is what textbooks and exercises expect at this level. can stand before the subject or right after it, with no change of meaning: = . Either half can also stand alone when the other is obvious: ，, and an answer to begins with by itself: ？——。 The one thing that is fixed is the order. Reason first, result second. If you want to give the result first, drop and put the clause at the back: ，.
Correct
Say each one out loud before moving on. The audio is a reference pronunciation, not a model to imitate exactly — match the tone contour, not the voice.
因为今天下雨，所以我们没去公园。因為今天下雨，所以我們沒去公園。
Yīnwèi (first tone, high and level) jīntiān (first tone, high and level) xiàyǔ, (fourth tone, falling) suǒyǐ (third tone, dipping) wǒmen (third tone, dipping) méi (second tone, rising) qù (fourth tone, falling) gōngyuán. (first tone, high and level)···
Because it rained today, we didn’t go to the park.
他因为工作很忙，所以常常很晚回家。他因為工作很忙，所以常常很晚回家。
Tā (first tone, high and level) yīnwèi (first tone, high and level) gōngzuò (first tone, high and level) hěn (third tone, dipping) máng, (second tone, rising) suǒyǐ (third tone, dipping) chángcháng (second tone, rising) hěn (third tone, dipping) wǎn (third tone, dipping) huí (second tone, rising) jiā. (first tone, high and level)···
Because he’s busy with work, he often gets home very late.
你为什么不吃？——因为我不饿。你為什麼不吃？——因為我不餓。
Nǐ (third tone, dipping) wèishénme (fourth tone, falling) bù (fourth tone, falling) chī? (first tone, high and level) — (neutral tone) Yīnwèi (first tone, high and level) wǒ (third tone, dipping) bú (second tone, rising) è. (fourth tone, falling)···
Why aren’t you eating? — Because I’m not hungry.
Incorrect — Common mistakes
These sentences are wrong. They are printed here on purpose, each one paired with the repair and the reason, because the error you can recognise is the error you stop making.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 因为他很忙，但是他没来。
Correct
Correct sentence: 因为他很忙，所以他没来。
Why: 因为 pairs with 所以. 但是 belongs to the concession pair 虽然…但是…, which says the opposite kind of thing.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 所以今天下雨，因为我们没去公园。
Correct
Correct sentence: 因为今天下雨，所以我们没去公园。
Why: The words are the right pair but the wrong way round: 因为 always introduces the reason and 所以 always introduces the result.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 我因为不舒服，所以昨天不去上课。
Correct
Correct sentence: 我因为不舒服，所以昨天没去上课。
Why: The result clause reports a past event that did not happen, so it takes 没, not 不. Connectives do not change how negation works.
Compared with
Most errors with this pattern are not errors about this pattern — they are a neighbouring pattern arriving at the wrong moment. Read these side by side.
The two patterns look alike — a fact, a comma, a consequence — but they say opposite things about the link between the halves. 因为…所以… says the second half follows naturally from the first: 因为下雨，所以我们没去. 虽然…但是… says it happens *in spite of* the first: 虽然下雨，但是我们还是去了. The commonest slip is mixing the pairs: 虽然…所以… and 因为…但是… are both impossible. Learn each pair as a single unit.
Concession: 虽然…但是… →Mini quiz
Question 1 / 3Total score: 0
Fill the gap: “Because I’m tired, I don’t feel like going out.”
___ 我很累，所以我不想出去。