<blockquote>
<p>Q: &quot;为了什么殺人?&quot;/ &quot;为什么殺人&quot; (why you kill?)</p>
<p>A: &quot;为了錢&quot;/ &quot;为錢&quot; (for money)</p>
<p>为了什么/ 为什么 = for what/ why</p>
<p>we want to know the <strong>motive</strong> for you to do it</p>
<p>you do it because you want the money</p>
</blockquote>
<p>~</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Q:&quot;因为什么而殺人?&quot;/ &quot;因什么而殺人?&quot; (you kill because of what?)</p>
<p>A:&quot;因为妒忌而殺人&quot; / &quot;因妒忌而殺人&quot; (I kill because of jealousy)</p>
<p>因为什么 / 因什么 = because of what</p>
<p>we want to know what is the <strong>cause</strong> of you doing it</p>
<p>you don't want to be jealous, but jealousy is the cause</p>
<p>为妒忌而殺人 sounds like you kill because you want to be jealous (of cause we understand you meant jealousy caused you to kill)</p>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li><p>为了錢而殺人 clearly stated you do it for money</p>
</li>
<li><p>因为錢而殺人 just stated money is the cause, may be that guy you killed stole all your money and you killed him for revenge. In this case money is the cause, not your motive</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Notice:</p>
<p>为什么殺人 put the verb 殺人 directly after 为什么</p>
<p>因为什么而殺人 is in a [(因 ~ 而) + (v)] = [(v) (because of) ~] structure</p>
<p>If someone ask you 为什么殺人(why you kill) , you can reply either &quot;为錢而殺人&quot; (state your motive) or &quot;因錢而殺人&quot; (state the cause)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-11T08:01:41.843Z
2019-10-11T08:37:14.227Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>Personally, I think<br>
为什么 assumes you may or may not be innocent, while 因为什么 assumes you are innocent.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-14T21:41:44.897Z
2019-10-14T21:41:44.897Z
wada
<p>I would say you could opt to translate them these two different ways:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>为什么 = why?</p></li>
<li><p>因为什么 = how come?</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Which matches to English fairly well.</p>

<p>因为什么, though, is usually part of a larger sentence structure like <em>[...]是因为什么原因[...]</em>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-11T03:43:25.483Z
2019-10-11T03:43:25.483Z
Mou某
<p>Usually when first learning Chinese we learn that <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E4%B8%BA%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88" rel="nofollow noreferrer">为什么</a> means "why".  However, I recently encountered <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E5%9B%A0%E4%B8%BA%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88" rel="nofollow noreferrer">因为什么</a>, and I'm wondering if it's different.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>你因为什么给关进去?<br>
  Why were you put in?<br>
  <sub>(玛帝尔达 (Matilda), page 114; <a href="http://jssisdubai.com/document/uploaded/matilda.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">English version</a> pdf page 101)</sub></p>
</blockquote>

<p>It directly combines <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E5%9B%A0%E4%B8%BA" rel="nofollow noreferrer">因为</a> = "because" with <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88" rel="nofollow noreferrer">什么</a> = "what", so it looks like it means "for what reason" or "why", i.e., it's the same as 为什么.  I'm not sure if there's any distinction though.</p>

<p><strong>Question</strong>: What's the difference between 因为什么 and 为什么?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-11T05:50:24.330Z
The literal meaning is already clear: 1. 为什么: why? for what? 2. 因为什么: because of what? by what?
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-11T05:50:44.500Z
They are pretty much the same. I don't see any difference. 你因为什么给关进去? VS 你为什么给关进去?
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-11T18:15:39.720Z
Is this the same distinction that used to exist in English before the two meanings became merged into the one word in common speech?  "*Why*" meant "*what is the cause*", and "*Wherefore*" meant "*what is the purpose*".  As when "*Wherefore art thou Romeo?*" meant "*Why the [bleep] are you **that** Romeo? (is someone trying to punish me?)*".
Ray Butterworth
<difference>
What's the difference between 因为什么 and 为什么?
# What's the difference between 因为什么 and 为什么?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-10-11)

Usually when first learning Chinese we learn that [为什么](http://youdao.com/w/%E4%B8%BA%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88) means "why". However, I recently encountered [因为什么](http://youdao.com/w/%E5%9B%A0%E4%B8%BA%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88), and I'm wondering if it's different.

> 你因为什么给关进去?  
> Why were you put in?  
> (玛帝尔达 (Matilda), page 114; [English version](http://jssisdubai.com/document/uploaded/matilda.pdf) pdf page 101)

It directly combines [因为](http://youdao.com/w/%E5%9B%A0%E4%B8%BA) = "because" with [什么](http://youdao.com/w/%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88) = "what", so it looks like it means "for what reason" or "why", i.e., it's the same as 为什么. I'm not sure if there's any distinction though.

**Question**: What's the difference between 因为什么 and 为什么?

**Tags:** difference

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The literal meaning is already clear: 1. 为什么: why? for what? 2. 因为什么: because of what? by what?  
> **username_2**: They are pretty much the same. I don't see any difference. 你因为什么给关进去? VS 你为什么给关进去?  
> **username_3**: Is this the same distinction that used to exist in English before the two meanings became merged into the one word in common speech?  "*Why*" meant "*what is the cause*", and "*Wherefore*" meant "*what is the purpose*".  As when "*Wherefore art thou Romeo?*" meant "*Why the [bleep] are you **that** Romeo? (is someone trying to punish me?)*".  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2019-10-11. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

I would say you could opt to translate them these two different ways:

* 为什么 = why?
* 因为什么 = how come?

Which matches to English fairly well.

因为什么, though, is usually part of a larger sentence structure like *[...]是因为什么原因[...]*.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-10-11. Score: 1

> Q: "为了什么殺人?"/ "为什么殺人" (why you kill?)
>
> A: "为了錢"/ "为錢" (for money)
>
> 为了什么/ 为什么 = for what/ why
>
> we want to know the **motive** for you to do it
>
> you do it because you want the money

~

> Q:"因为什么而殺人?"/ "因什么而殺人?" (you kill because of what?)
>
> A:"因为妒忌而殺人" / "因妒忌而殺人" (I kill because of jealousy)
>
> 因为什么 / 因什么 = because of what
>
> we want to know what is the **cause** of you doing it
>
> you don't want to be jealous, but jealousy is the cause
>
> 为妒忌而殺人 sounds like you kill because you want to be jealous (of cause we understand you meant jealousy caused you to kill)

* 为了錢而殺人 clearly stated you do it for money
* 因为錢而殺人 just stated money is the cause, may be that guy you killed stole all your money and you killed him for revenge. In this case money is the cause, not your motive

Notice:

为什么殺人 put the verb 殺人 directly after 为什么

因为什么而殺人 is in a [(因 ~ 而) + (v)] = [(v) (because of) ~] structure

If someone ask you 为什么殺人(why you kill) , you can reply either "为錢而殺人" (state your motive) or "因錢而殺人" (state the cause)


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### Answer by username_5 on 2019-10-14. Score: 0

Personally, I think  
为什么 assumes you may or may not be innocent, while 因为什么 assumes you are innocent.


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