为 (wéi): as (in the capacity of), to take sth as, to act as
为 (wéi) is a Chinese character meaning “as (in the capacity of).” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丶 (structural), 力 (structural) and 丶 (structural). It ranks #18 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- as (in the capacity of)
- to take sth as
- to act as
Stroke Order
Practice writing 为 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 为
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 因为preposition/conjunction | yīn wèi | because | 2 |
| 为什么adverb | wèi shén me | why? | 2 |
| 认为verb | rèn wéi | to believe | 3 |
| 为了preposition | wèi le | for | 3 |
| 以为verb | yǐ wéi | to think | 3 |
| 成为verb | chéng wéi | to become | 4 |
| 作为verb/preposition | zuò wéi | one's conduct | 4 |
| 行为noun | xíng wéi | action | 5 |
| 为何adverb | wèi hé | why | 6 |
| 为止verb | wéi zhǐ | until | 6 |
| 称为verb | chēng wéi | to be called | 5 |
| 为此conjunction | wèi cǐ | for this reason | 6 |
| 为难adjective/verb | wéi nán | to feel embarrassed or awkward | 6 |
| 视为verb | shì wéi | to view as | 5 |
| 极为adverb | jí wéi | extremely | 6 |
| 人为adjective | rén wéi | artificial | 6 |
| 分为verb | fēn wéi | to divide sth into (parts) | 4 |
| 为期verb | wéi qī | (to be done) by (a certain date) | 6 |
| 较为adverb | jiào wéi | comparatively | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 到此为止phrase | dào cǐ wéi zhǐ | to stop at this point |
| 所作所为 | suǒ zuò suǒ wéi | one's conduct and deeds |
| 无能为力 | wú néng wéi lì | (idiom) powerless to do anything about it |
| 称之为 | chēng zhī wéi | to call it... |
| 自以为是 | zì yǐ wéi shì | to believe oneself infallible (idiom) |
| 性行为noun | xìng xíng wéi | sexual behavior |
| 更为adverb | gèng wéi | even more |
| 尽力而为phrase | jìn lì ér wéi | to try one's utmost |
| 最为adverb | zuì wéi | the most |
| 为生verb | wéi shēng | to make a living |
| 为人verb | wéi rén | to conduct oneself |
| 为所欲为verb | wéi suǒ yù wéi | (idiom) to do whatever one pleases |
| 迄今为止adverb | qì jīn wéi zhǐ | so far |
| 难为情adjective | nán wéi qíng | embarrassed |
| 身为preposition | shēn wéi | in the capacity of |
为 appears in 108 compound words: 28 as the first character, 51 as the last, and 21 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 为 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (101)
to not go too far; to refrain from going to extremes; to never go beyond reasonable limits
to not accept as correct; to disagree; to object; to disapprove; to not care; to not regard as important
not fit to serve as a model; not to be taken as an example; not an example to be followed; unauthoritative
to advance gradually and dig in at every step; to consolidate at every step; to act cautiously
to think one is discerning and shrewd for focusing on minutiae, but neglecting the bigger picture
to not accept as correct; to disagree; to object; to disapprove; to not care; to not regard as important
Showing 12 of 101 idioms containing 为.
Example Sentences
作为一名医生，他的职责就是为病人解除痛苦。
Zuòwéi yī míng yīshēng, tā de zhízé jiùshì wèi bìngrén jiěchú tòngkǔ.
As a doctor, his duty is to relieve the suffering of patients.
小伙出售前女友送的银手镯,剪开发现内芯为30克高纯..
xiǎo huǒ chū shòu qián nǚ yǒu sòng de yín shǒu 镯 , jiǎn kāi fā xiàn nèi xīn wéi kè gāo chún . .
The guy sold his ex-girlfriend to send the silver bracelet, cut open and found that the core for 30 grams of high-purity...
大年初一,浙大发顶刊论文:用人工智能为膜蛋白造“装..
dà nián chū yī , zhè dà fā dǐng kān lún wén yòng rén gōng zhì néng wéi mó dàn bái zào zhuāng . .
On the first day of the Chinese New Year, ZJU published a top paper on the use of artificial intelligence for membrane proteins...
...国12月营建许可总数录得144.8万户,为202..
. . . guó yuè yíng jiàn xǔ kě zǒng shǔ lù dé . mò hù , wéi . .
... The total number of building permits for December was recorded at 1.448 million, which is 202...
寒风中的暖流丨贵安新区市场监督管理局为外卖骑手送去..
hán fēng zhōng de nuǎn liú 丨 guì ān xīn ōu shì chǎng jiān dū guǎn lǐ jú wéi wài mài qí shǒu sòng qù . .
Warm Current in the Cold Wind丨Gui'an New District Market Supervision Administration sends takeaway riders...
请停留3秒 为这5位空军勇士献花!今天是万家团圆的..
qǐng tíng liú miǎo wéi zhè wèi kōng jūn yǒng shì xiàn huā ! jīn tiān shì mò jiā tuán yuán de . .
Please pause for 3 seconds to pay tribute to these five air force heroes! Today is a day when families gather together...
...晚的另一场“巷战”:AI挤进春节档,不止为了发红..
. . . wǎn de lìng yī chǎng xiàng zhàn jǐ jìn chūn jié dǎng , bù zhǐ wéi le fā hóng . .
...Another late-night "battle": AI invades the Spring Festival box office, aiming for more than just red envelopes...
为什么你不来看我们？
Wèishénme nǐ bù lái kàn wǒmen?
Why don't you come visit us?
为什么不订些批萨呢？
Wèishénme bù dìng xiē pīsà ne?
Why don't we order pizza?
我为什么一定要那么做？
Wǒ wèishénme yīdìngyào nàme zuò?
Why do I have to do that?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 为 (wéi) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 为?
What are the components of 为?
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What characters sound the same as 为 (wéi)?
Is 为 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 为 with real-time feedback
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