# 为吸引较多美国留学生



## sqlines

I was wondering if you could also help me with the following sentence which is difficult for me to understand.

中国与日本为吸引较多美国留学生的两个亚洲国家.

Thanks again in advance for your help.


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## LikeBarleyBending

Just a try:

中国与日本为吸引较多美国留学生的两个亚洲国家.


In Asia, China and Japan are the top two countries that have attracted the largest numbers of American students.

Hope that helps.


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## sqlines

Thanks LikeBarleyBending,

Thanks for translating the sentence in good English.
I have, however, problem understanding the logic of the sentence structure.
中国与日本为吸引较多美国留学生的两个亚洲国家.

Let me translate it word for word.
China and Japan managed(=为)to attract relatively more American students' two Asian countries.

两个亚洲国家 must be considered a Noun because of 的.
So, the word-for-word translation can be rearranged as :
The two Asian countries of China and Japan managed to attract relatively more American students.

Am I right to translate 为 as to manage?


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## LikeBarleyBending

sqlines said:


> Thanks LikeBarleyBending,
> 
> Thanks for translating the sentence in good English.
> I have, however, problem understanding the logic of the sentence structure.
> 中国与日本为吸引较多美国留学生的两个亚洲国家.
> 
> Let me translate it word for word.
> China and Japan managed(=为)to attract relatively more American students' two Asian countries.
> 
> 两个亚洲国家 must be considered a Noun because of 的.
> So, the word-for-word translation can be rearranged as :
> The two Asian countries of China and Japan managed to attract relatively more American students.
> 
> Am I right to translate 为 as to manage?


 
I am afraid I cannot go with you. 

中国与日本为两个亚洲国家. --here 为 means 是 （are）. China and Japan are two Asian countries.

吸引较多美国留学生的－－is the attributive, which modifies 两个亚洲国家. That's why I used the attrbutive clause.

Hope I have made it clear.

Ps: I am just talking about the logic of the sentence. I think your rewording of the sentence does not change much of the meaning, but change a little bit of the logic (structure).


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## On Retrouve a Paris

"为"不是manage哦, 当它是manage的意思的时候, 是第四声. 原文中的为是第二声, 意思是"是". 所以这个句子就可以变成: 
中国与日本*是*吸引较多美国留学生的两个亚洲国家.


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## Staarkali

我明白你们的解释，我原来没注意这个字可能有这个意思；我还是想问一下，当“为”的意思是“是”的时候，可不可能也包括“成”的意思？


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## On Retrouve a Paris

没有. "为"(当解释成"是"的时候)是静态的, 而"成"是动态的, "成"有转变的味道在里面. 
...中国与日本*成(*为)吸引较多美国留学生的两个亚洲国家...(强调中国和日本现在是吸引...言下之意以前不是)
中国与日本为吸引....只说明中国和日本当前是, 但我们不知道以前是不是也是.


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## Staarkali

非常清楚了，谢谢！

About the original sentence, I would add my own translation:
_China and Japan are the two countries that attract the most American students in Asia._


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## palomnik

I always understood that 为 can translate as 是, possibly with the nuance of English "to act as, to represent" rather than just plain "to be."


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## Staarkali

Maybe some native speakers would invalidate but I still have the same feeling as Palomnik that 为 is a little more that just a very neutral _to be_
If they were absolutely identical, they would be completely interchangeable.


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## Zulis

in this context 為and 是 is definitely interchangable


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## xiaolijie

Zulis said:


> in this context 為and 是 is definitely interchangable


Agree! Among many meanings of *为*, there is one that is the equivalent of *是* :
北京*为*中国的首都
一千公斤*为*一吨


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## LikeBarleyBending

我个人认为，在表示“是”的时候，“为”更正式一些，因此多用在书面语中，口语中一般用“是”。


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## kastner

On Retrouve a Paris said:


> 没有. "为"(当解释成"是"的时候)是静态的, 而"成"是动态的, "成"有转变的味道在里面.
> ...中国与日本*成(*为)吸引较多美国留学生的两个亚洲国家...(强调中国和日本现在是吸引...言下之意以前不是)
> 中国与日本为吸引....只说明中国和日本当前是, 但我们不知道以前是不是也是.



这其实是 “为” 的两种意思，根据《现代汉语词典》解释

为
 wéi
为1（為、爲）
①做；作为：事在人～│敢作敢～│大有可～│青年有～。
②充当：选他～代表。
③变成；成：一分～二│化～乌有│变沙漠～良田。
④是：十寸～一尺。

sqlines 提到的也就是第4种用法“是”。
Staarkali 所提到的，“为”和“成”，意思是一致的。


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