What is the difference? ために、から、ので

Ａuthor Hazakura

I/ 02 different meanings of ～ために

A ために B has 2 different meanings, expressing a cause (1) and expressing a purpose (2).

• If functioning as (1), then A ために B = Since A, B
• If functioning as (2), then A ために B = In order A, do B

This lesson focuses on the meaning (1) – expressing a cause of A ために B

II/ ために (1) and the cause

1/ In general

A ために B = Since A, B

This grammar point expresses the relationship between the cause A and effect B.

For example

Cause A can be…

この村に医者がいないために、～

= konomurani isha ga inaiために

=Since there is no doctor in the village

And the effect B….

病気のときとなりの町まで行かないといけない

= Byouki no toki tonari no machimade ikanaitoikenai.

= I have to go all the way to the neighboring town when I get sick.

The whole sentence with ために would be

この村に医者がいないために、病気のときとなりの町まで行かないといけない.

= Kono mura ni isha ga inaiために, byouki no toki tonari no machi made ikanaitoikenai.

= Since there is no doctor in this town, I have to go all the way to the neighboring town when I get sick.

Easy, right? But wait !!!!

2/ What is the difference between the Since A , B of ために and the Since A, B of から、ので?

In order to express a cause, we already had から、ので which is going well. Why do we need ために for a cause to make things complicate?

(1) One, ために helps to express a cause in a more katai way than から、ので

この村に医者がいないために、病気のときとなりの町まで行かないといけない。

= Kono mura ni isha ga inai tameni byouki no toki tonari no machi made ikanaitoikenai.

Here, with ために, the cause has a cool, katai nuance.

= Since there is no doctor in this town, I have to go to the neighboring town when I get sick.

If using から、ので, the meaning of Cause and effect has no change, but the katai level has been decreased.

(2) Two, ために just focuses on making clear the cause and effect relationship. It does not aim at using the cause to make induction (～ましょう・～ませんか), to express one own’s desire (～たい・～つもり) and to make a request ( ～てください).

Therefore, with ために, B clause does not end with,

～てください

～ませんか・～ましょう

～たい・～つもり

We will go wrong when using ために in the following cases

パソコンが壊れてしまったために、新しいのを買おう。X

=Pasokon ga kowarete shimatta ために, atarashii no wo kaou.

= Since the computer was broken, let’s buy the new one X

Because B clause ends with 買おう- let’s buy – an induction form.

This feature of ために is the secret to escape from the matrix of Cause and Effect grammar in JLPT.

3/ How to form

A ために B

A : is cause

B : is effect

• If A is verb, use the futsukei.
• If A is adj, use the futsukei, which means Adj- i has い, Adj-na has な.
• If A is noun, remember to add の to noun.

4/ Example

1/出張のために、明日の会議は欠席いただきます。

= Shutchō no tame ni , ashita no kaigi wa kesseki itadakimasu

= Because of the business trip, I would like to be absent from the meeting tomorrow.

The form : Noun adding の+ ために

2/ 報告書にミスが多かったのはよく見直しをしなかったためだろう。

=Houkokusho ni misu ga ookatta noha yoku minaosu wo shinakatta tame darou.

= The remaining of many mistakes in the report is because of not reviewing carefully.

3/ 彼は一度失敗しているため、計画に慎重になっている。

= Kareha ichido shippai shiteirutame, keikaku ni shinchou ni natteiru.

= Since he failed one time, he becomes careful with the plan.

4/ 私は物理で失敗したのは、物理に興味を待たなかったためだ。

= Watashi wa butsuri de shippai shita no wa, butsuri ni kyōmi o mata nakatta tameda.

= The failure of physics is because I do not have interest in physics.

5/ 夜が明けたとき、私は苦労と不安のために半病院になっていました。

= Yoru ga aketa toki, watashi wa kurō to fuan no tame ni han byōin ni natte imashita.

= When dawn broke, I was half in the hospital, for I was struggling and anxious.

5/ Mistakable grammar point with ～ た め に

～ た め に has a brother, called ～ に よ っ て, in “Since A,B” series. They can make us go wrong when dealing with JLPT test when we need to choose one of them.

In the next volume, we will talk about ～ に よ っ て then move forward in to the difference between ～ た め に / ～ に よ っ て.

About ～ に よ っ て, click here Difference between ～ た め に / ～ に よ っ て. Click here

6/ About た め に Dafa

1/ The grammar point た めに has 2 usages, to specify a reason (1) and to specify a purpose (2).

Just A た め に B, but

• It can be a (reason)

A ために B = Since A, B

• It also can be a purpose

A ために B = In order A, do B

Example

(1) 試 合 で い い 成績 を 残 す た め に 、 み ん な 頑 張 っ て 練習 し て い る。

= Shiaide ī seiseki o nokosu tame ni, min’na ganbatte renshū shite iru.

た め に is showing the meaning of 2- specifying the purpose.

= Everyone is working hard in order to get good results.

If we translate as since A then B, the sentence will have no meaning.

= Due to good performance, everyone tried to practice. X

And the following sentence

(2) パ ソ コ ン が 壊 れ て し ま っ た た め に 、 資料 が 作 れ な か っ た。

= Pasokon ga kowarete shimatta tame ni, shiryō ga tsukurenakatta.

Here た め に is denoting meaning 1 – A reason.

= Since the computer is damaged, I cannot make the document.

So, how to distinguish when た め に is performing the reason, when た め is performing the purpose?

7/ Distinguish 2 usages of ～ た め に

The core to distinguish lies in the grammatical structure of A clause which is right before た め に (part A).

1 / When A is a verb

If we see A clause ends with verb な い, verb た, verb ている, this た め is た め に – Purpose.

Let’s bravely exclude ため に / reason.

Why?

Because た め に (1) – reason is quite picky, it only accepts A clause as dictionary form.

For example

報告 書 に ミ ス が 多 か っ た の は よ く 見 直 し を し な か っ た た め だ ろ う。

= Hōkoku-sho ni misu ga ōkatta no wa yoku minaoshi o shinakatta tame darou.

Look at A clause and we can see the verb し な か っ た” which is in た form. So this ために is ために (2)- reason

報告 書 に ミ ス が 多 か っ た の は よ く 見 直 し を し な か っ た た め だ ろ う

= Due to not being carefully reviewed, there were many errors in the report.

2 / When A is adjective

If we see A is an adjective, then let’s strongly choose the meaning た め に/ Reason and exclude ために/Purpose.

Since た め に/purpose is quite picky, it doesn’t accept adjectives.

イ ン タ ー ネ ッ ト の 接 続 環境 が 悪 い た め に 、 利用 者 は メ ー ル や 電話 で 注 文 す る ここ =

= Intānetto no setsuzoku kankyō ga warui tame ni, riyōsha wa mēru ya denwa de chūmon suru koto mo dekimasu

A clause (before ために） is 悪 い – an adjective. And that is why ために is transated as Due to

イ ン タ ー ネ ッ ト の 接 続 環境 が 悪 い た め に 、 利用 者 は メ ー ル や 電話 注 文 す る こ と で き ま す.

= Due to the poor internet connection, users can order food by mail or phone.

We don’t have:

= In order to maintain a poor internet connection environment, users can order food by mail or phone. X

This’s a completely nonsense sentence. X

3 / When A is a noun

In this case, we have to rely on the context to decide た め に/Reason or ために/Purpose.

III/ Key points of ために

1 / We use A た め に B to express the idea “Since A, B happened“, emphasizing the cause-effect relationship of A and B.

2 / Typical example

Since there are no doctors in the village, I have to go all the way to the city when I am sick.

= こ の 村 に 医 者 が い な い た め に, 病 気 の 時 隣 の 町 ま で か な い と い け な い。

= Kono mura ni isha ga inai tame ni, byōki no toki tonari no machi made ikanaito ikenai.

3 / Grammatical structure

V – futsukei

Adj – Futsukei

Noun adding の

4/ The Don’t with ～ た め に

If we use ～ た め に for A clause, then B clause cannot goes with ～ て く だ さ い, ～ ま し ょ う ・ ま せ ん か or showing someone’s desire with ～ た い ・ つ も り.

～ て く だ さ い. X

～ ま し ょ う ・ ま せ ん か. X

～ た い ・ つ も り. X

パ ソ コ ン が 壊 れ て し ま っ た た め に, 新 し い の を 買 お う .X

= Because the computer is broken, let’s buy a new one X

Is wrong with た め に. Because B = 買 お う

5 / In correlation with similar grammatical points

た め に is very similar and easy to confuse with ～ に よ っ て.

About ～ に よ っ て, click here

Distinguishing ～ た め に / ～ に よ っ て. Click here

6 / About た め に Dafa

～た め has 2 uses, specifying a reason (1) and specifying a purpose (2).

Just A た め に B but ：

It can be a reason Since A, B happened.

It can be a purpose Do B in order A.

7/ How to distinguish た め に * / So * and た め * に / so that *

Core: is the grammatical structure of A clause – in front of た め に.

• We exclude た め に / Purpose, if A clause (beforeた め に) is in た / て い る / な い form and adjective. With them, た め に is representing the meaning of Reason.
• When A clause is a noun, base on the context to decide た め に / purpose or た め に /reason.

Author Hazakura