therefore

English

Etymology

From Old English pronominal adverb therfore; see there, fore, and for.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈðɛəfɔː/, X-SAMPA: /"DE@fO:/
• (GenAm) IPA: /ˈðɛɹfɔɹ/, X-SAMPA: /"DErfOr/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: there‧fore
• Homophone: therefor (second syllable stressed)

Adverb

therefore (not comparable)

1. (conjunctive) For that or this purpose, referring to something previously stated.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible (Authorized Version), Luke 14:20

     I have married a wife, and therefore I can not come.

   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible (Authorized Version), Matthew 19:27

     Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?

2. (conjunctive) Consequently, by or in consequence of that or this cause; referring to something previously stated.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Spectator

     He blushes; therefore he is guilty.

Synonyms

• (for that purpose): so, thus, to that end, to this end
• (consequently): hence, then, thus, accordingly, as a result, ∴ (math)

Derived terms

• I think; therefore I am

Translations

for that or this reason, referring to something previously stated; for that

• Arabic: لذلك (ar) (li-ḏālik, li-ḏālika), لهذا (ar) (li-hāḏā)
• Armenian: ուրեմն (hy) (uremn)
• Asturian: poro (ast), por eso (ast)
• Belarusian: таму (be) (tamú)
• Bulgarian: затова (bg) (zatová)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 所以 (cmn) (suǒyǐ), 因此 (cmn) (yīncǐ)

• Czech: proto (cs)
• Dalmatian: duanc
• Danish: derfor (da)
• Dutch: daarom (nl)
• Finnish: siksi, sen vuoksi, sen takia, joten (fi)
• French: donc (fr), pour ça (fr), en conséquence (fr)
• German: also (de) (folglich), daher (de), (archaic) sonach (de), darum (de), (literary) demnach (de), demzufolge (de), deshalb (de), deswegen (de), mithin (de), somit (de), (literary) sonach (de)
• Greek: επομένως (el) (epoménos)
• Hebrew: אָז (he) (az)
• Hindi: इसलिए (hi) (isli'e), इसलिये (hi) (isli'e)
• Hungarian: azért (hu), ezért (hu), emiatt (hu)
• Italian: quindi (it)
• Japanese: それ故に (ja) (それゆえに, sore-yue-ni), 故に (ja) (ゆえに, yue-ni), ですから (ja) (desu kara), 従って (ja) (したがって, shitagatte)
• Khmer: អញ្ចឹង (km) (añchəng)
• Korean: 따라서 (ko) (ttaraseo), 그래서 (ko) (geuraeseo), 그러므로 (ko) (geureomeuro)
• Latin: ergō (la), igitur (la), itaque (la), autem (la), propterea (la), propterea (la)
• Macedonian: затоа (mk) (zatoa)

• Navajo: háálá, éí biniinaa
• Norwegian Bokmål: derfor (nb)
• Norwegian Nynorsk: difor (nn)
• Ojibwe: nindawaa
• Pashto: ځکه (ps) (źëka)
• Persian: بدلیل آن (fa) (be-dalil-e ân)
• Polish: więc (pl), zatem (pl), dlatego (pl)
• Portuguese: portanto, assim sendo, por isto, logo (pt)
• Romanian: deci (ro), așadar (ro), prin urmare (ro)
• Russian: поэтому (ru) (poétomu), потому (ru) (potomú), посему (ru) (posemú) (dated or poetic)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: дакле (sh), стога (sh), зато (sh)

  Roman: dakle (sh), stoga (sh), zato (sh)

• Slovak: preto (sk)
• Slovene: zato (sl)
• Spanish: por eso (es)
• Swedish: därför (sv)
• Telugu: అందుకే (te) (andukE), కాబట్టి (te) (kaabaTTi), అందుచేత (te) (anduchEta), కనుక (te) (kanuka)
• Thai: ดังนั้น (th) (dang-nán), แล้วจึง (th) (láew-jeung)
• Turkish: (obsolete) binaenaleyh (tr), bu nedenle (tr), bu yüzden (tr)/o yüzden (tr), bundan dolayı (tr), dolayısıyla (tr)
• Ukrainian: тому (uk) (tomú), затим (uk) (zatým)
• Urdu: اس لئے (ur) (is li'e)
• Vietnamese: bởi vậy (vi), cho nên (vi), vì thế (vi), vậy thì (vi)
• West Frisian: dêrom (fy)

consequently; by consequence

• Armenian: հետևաբար (hy) (hetevabar)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 所以 (cmn) (suǒyǐ), 因此 (cmn) (yīncǐ)

• Czech: proto (cs)
• Danish: derfor (da)
• Dutch: daarom (nl), bijgevolg (nl) (formal), daardoor (nl) (beginning of sentence), waardoor (nl) (not in beginning of sentence)
• Finnish: siksi (fi)
• French: par conséquent (fr), en conséquence (fr)
• German: deswegen (de), deshalb (de), darum (de)
• Greek: επομένως (el) (epoménos)

• Hungarian: következésképpen (hu), tehát (hu)
• Japanese: 従って (ja) (したがって, shitagatte)
• Latin: igitur (la)
• Pashto: نو (ps) (no)
• Polish: więc (pl)
• Portuguese: portanto (pt), consequentemente (pt)
• Romanian: deci (ro), așadar (ro), prin urmare (ro)
• Russian: следовательно (ru) (slédovatel'no), (somewhat) зато (ru) (zató)
• Spanish: por eso (es)
• Swedish: därför (sv)
• West Frisian: dêrom (fy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Crimean Tatar: ayse
• Georgian: ამიტომ (ka) (amitom)
• Icelandic: þess vegna, þar af leiðir, þar af leiðandi
• Ido: do
• Italian: dunque, quindi, per questo

• Korean: 그러므로 (keureomeuro)
• Norwegian: derfor
• Old English: þæs, þȳ
• Spanish: por consiguiente, por lo tanto, por eso
• Swedish: därför
• Volapük: klu

See also

• thereabout, thereafter, thereagainst, thereat, therebefore, therebeforn, thereby, therefor, therefore, therefrom, therein, thereinafter, thereof, thereon, thereto, theretofore, thereunder, thereunto, thereupon, therewith, therewithal
• hereabout, hereafter, hereat, hereby, herein, hereinafter, hereinbefore, hereinto, hereof, hereon, hereto, heretofore, hereunto, hereunder, hereupon, herewith
• whereabouts, whereas, whereafter, whereat, whereby, wherefore, wherefrom, wherein, whereinto, whereof, whereon, whereto, whereunder, whereupon, wherever, wherewith, wherewithal

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: rest · 2 · open · #326: therefore · feet · lay · along