HSK 5 Connectors & compound sentences
之所以 … 是因为 …
The reason why… is that… (之所以…是因为…)
Structure Subject + 之所以 + result,是因为 + cause
之所以…是因为… (zhīsuǒyǐ… shì yīnwèi…) is "because" turned around: you state the RESULT first, then the CAUSE. 他之所以迟到,是因为堵车 = "the reason he was late is that there was a traffic jam". It highlights the result and then explains it. It’s the formal flip of 因为…所以….
Examples
- 他之所以迟到,是因为堵车。
The reason he was late is that there was a traffic jam.
- 我之所以这么做,是因为没有别的办法。
The reason I do it this way is that there’s no other option.
- 之所以选这里,是因为离家近。
The reason I chose this place is that it’s close to home.
Levels are indicative: they follow the standard Chinese Grammar Wiki (AllSet Learning) progression, not an official HSK 3.0 mapping. We never assign levels by eye.