For the sake of / so as to (以…起见)

Structure 以 + reason (disyllabic) + 起见，measure taken

以…起见 (yǐ… qǐ jiàn) is a FRONTED, highly formal purpose clause: it states the reason or precaution behind a decision, with 起见 closing it. 以慎重起见，我们再核实一遍 = "to be on the safe side, we'll verify it once more". Between 以 and 起见 there is almost always a fixed two-syllable block (慎重 caution, 安全 safety, 方便 convenience, 公平 fairness, 保险 to be safe). It is written and administrative in register, placed at the start of the sentence, before the measure adopted. Here 见 reads jiàn.

Examples

以yǐ慎shèn重zhòng起qǐ见jiàn，我wǒ们men再zài核hé实shí一yī遍biàn。
To be on the safe side, we'll double-check it once more.
以yǐ安ān全quán起qǐ见jiàn，请qǐng系jì好hǎo安ān全quán带dài。
For safety's sake, please fasten your seatbelt.
以yǐ公gōng平píng起qǐ见jiàn，名míng额é通tōng过guò抽chōu签qiān决jué定dìng。
For the sake of fairness, the places are decided by lot.
以yǐ方fāng便biàn起qǐ见jiàn，会huì议yì改gǎi在zài线xiàn上shàng举jǔ行xíng。
For convenience's sake, the meeting will be moved online.

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