<p>I think “因为。。。所以。。。” still applies in this case. Or you could say “我。。。是因为。。。”</p>

<p>For example: </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我吃蛋糕是因为我饿了。= <em>I am eating the cake because I am hungry.</em><br>
  <sub>Wǒ chī dàn gāo shì yīn wèi wǒ è le</sub></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T15:24:03.220Z
I added the pinyin, but I'm not 100% sure it's correct. I used the dictionary so hopefully it is... :)
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T15:27:27.510Z
Thanks for the editing Alenanno. The pinyin you added is totally correct.
Bruce Li
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T15:19:56.033Z
2011-12-17T15:23:30.600Z
2011-12-17T15:23:30.600Z
Bruce Li
<p>As long as there is a cause and effect logic in the sentence, "因为...所以..." applies. Therefore, the below situations all mean "因为...所以..."</p>

<p>A because B</p>

<p>B, therefore/hence/so, A</p>

<p>B causes/contributes to/leads to A</p>

<p>etc...</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T15:47:12.793Z
2011-12-17T15:47:12.793Z
baoye
<p>To answer the question:</p>

<p>English phrase</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"I am [doing something] because [reason]"</p>
</blockquote>

<p>has Chines equivalent, which preserves the same sentence order, as:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"之所以我现在正在做.. 是因为..."</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Though, I am not sure if <code>所以我在做.. 是因为</code> is wrong, the <code>之</code> in this sentence is not really optional, i.e. saying <code>之所以我在做.. 是因为</code> is much more natural than <code>所以我在做.. 是因为</code>, at least to me.</p>

<p>But normally, I would say</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"我现在正在做.. 是因为..."</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Or, to add blaming emotion into the sentence:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"我现在正在做.. 还不是因为..."</p>
</blockquote>

<p>E.g.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"我现在正在写报告, 还不是因为你忘了提前告诉我."</p>
</blockquote>

<p>=</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"I am still writing the report, because you forgot to tell me earlier!"</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T20:55:45.387Z
I'm a bit confused about the 还不是 part, how does it translate to English?
dr Hannibal Lecter
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T23:50:26.717Z
Wow, just realized this part is really not that easy to explain in English. I will post a question for this when I have the time. ;) For now, FYI, this part is oral Chinese, somewhat not that standard, but as I know, quite common and nature.
Flake
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T19:48:16.943Z
2011-12-17T19:48:16.943Z
Flake
<p>I am familiar with the sentence structure "因为。。。所以。。。," but what is the correct way to say "I am [doing something] because [reason]"?</p>

<p>For example, "I am asking this question because I am clueless."</p>

<p>Does "因为。。。所以。。。" still apply in this case?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T16:47:01.640Z
Not related to your question, but it might be a good idea to not use Chinese fullstops for your ellipsis. Have a look at the [Chinese Wikipedia article for ellipsis](http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%9C%81%E7%95%A5%E5%8F%B7), which describes methods to type out the ellipsis using various IMEs
Yi Jiang 易江
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T17:07:38.587Z
@YiJiang易江: It's difficult for me to understand, but I have a Croatian layout, with SCIM on Linux, they probably haven't covered that.. I've seen only SHIFT+6 there, for me that only gives an ampersand.
dr Hannibal Lecter
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T18:40:57.457Z
To keep the Chinese translation in the same order as the English equivalent, you could say "之所以我现在正在做.. 是因为..."
Flake
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T19:10:51.757Z
@Flake: Great, please add an it as an alternative in the answers, it's more prominent and you'll get some upvotes ;) My grammar book says 之 is optional, is that correct?
dr Hannibal Lecter
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T19:48:34.710Z
@drHannibalLecter Done that. Added few more things.
Flake
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T20:52:15.467Z
@Flake: Great! Hmmm..it appears I've reached my daily voting limit..vote to be delivered..:)
dr Hannibal Lecter
<grammar><usage><sentence-structure>
Sentence structure "I'm [doing something] because [reason]"?
# Sentence structure "I'm [doing something] because [reason]"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-12-17)

I am familiar with the sentence structure "因为。。。所以。。。," but what is the correct way to say "I am [doing something] because [reason]"?

For example, "I am asking this question because I am clueless."

Does "因为。。。所以。。。" still apply in this case?

**Tags:** grammar, usage, sentence-structure

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Not related to your question, but it might be a good idea to not use Chinese fullstops for your ellipsis. Have a look at the [Chinese Wikipedia article for ellipsis](http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%9C%81%E7%95%A5%E5%8F%B7), which describes methods to type out the ellipsis using various IMEs  
> **username_0**: @YiJiang易江: It's difficult for me to understand, but I have a Croatian layout, with SCIM on Linux, they probably haven't covered that.. I've seen only SHIFT+6 there, for me that only gives an ampersand.  
> **username_2**: To keep the Chinese translation in the same order as the English equivalent, you could say "之所以我现在正在做.. 是因为..."  
> **username_0**: @username_2: Great, please add an it as an alternative in the answers, it's more prominent and you'll get some upvotes ;) My grammar book says 之 is optional, is that correct?  
> **username_2**: @drHannibalLecter Done that. Added few more things.  
> **username_0**: @username_2: Great! Hmmm..it appears I've reached my daily voting limit..vote to be delivered..:)  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2011-12-17. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

To answer the question:

English phrase

> "I am [doing something] because [reason]"

has Chines equivalent, which preserves the same sentence order, as:

> "之所以我现在正在做.. 是因为..."

Though, I am not sure if `所以我在做.. 是因为` is wrong, the `之` in this sentence is not really optional, i.e. saying `之所以我在做.. 是因为` is much more natural than `所以我在做.. 是因为`, at least to me.

But normally, I would say

> "我现在正在做.. 是因为..."

Or, to add blaming emotion into the sentence:

> "我现在正在做.. 还不是因为..."

E.g.

> "我现在正在写报告, 还不是因为你忘了提前告诉我."

=

> "I am still writing the report, because you forgot to tell me earlier!"

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I'm a bit confused about the 还不是 part, how does it translate to English?  
> **username_2**: Wow, just realized this part is really not that easy to explain in English. I will post a question for this when I have the time. ;) For now, FYI, this part is oral Chinese, somewhat not that standard, but as I know, quite common and nature.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2011-12-17. Score: 5

I think “因为。。。所以。。。” still applies in this case. Or you could say “我。。。是因为。。。”

For example:

> 我吃蛋糕是因为我饿了。= *I am eating the cake because I am hungry.*  
> Wǒ chī dàn gāo shì yīn wèi wǒ è le

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: I added the pinyin, but I'm not 100% sure it's correct. I used the dictionary so hopefully it is... :)  
> **username_3**: Thanks for the editing username_4. The pinyin you added is totally correct.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2011-12-17. Score: 3

As long as there is a cause and effect logic in the sentence, "因为...所以..." applies. Therefore, the below situations all mean "因为...所以..."

A because B

B, therefore/hence/so, A

B causes/contributes to/leads to A

etc...


---

