therefore

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English

Etymology

From Middle English therfore, therfor, tharfore, thorfore; synchronically a univerbation of there (pronominal adverb) +‎ for, literally “for that (reason)”. The spelling has been changed due to a reanalysis as there + fore (literally “forward from that; thence”). See also therefor, ultimately the same formation.

Compare Saterland Frisian deerfoar, Dutch daarvoor, German dafür, Danish and Norwegian derfor, Swedish därför.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈðɛə.fɔː/
(General American) enPR: thârʹfôr, IPA^(key): /ˈðɛɚ.fɔɹ/
(obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈðɜːɹˌfɔːɹ/^[1]
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)fɔː(ɹ)
Hyphenation: there‧fore

Adverb

therefore (not comparable)

(conjunctive) Consequently, by or in consequence of that or this cause; referring to something previously stated.
Traditional values will always have a place. Therefore, they will never lose relevance.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 14:20:
  I have married a wife, and therefore I can not come.
- 1637, René Descartes, Discourse on the Method:
  Je pense, donc je suis (I think, therefore I am)
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
  In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […] , and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.
- 2012 March-April, Terrence J. Sejnowski, “Well-connected Brains”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 171:
  Creating a complete map of the human connectome would therefore be a monumental milestone but not the end of the journey to understanding how our brains work.
- 1753, The Spectator, number 642:
  He blushes; therefore he is innocent.
(conjunctive, archaic) for that; for it (in reference to a previous statement)
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 19:27:
  Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?

Synonyms

(for that purpose): so, thus, to that end, to this end
(consequently): hence, then, thus, accordingly, as a result, thereby, eo ipso, ∴ (math); See also Thesaurus:therefore

Derived terms

I think therefore I am

Translations

consequently; by consequence — see also consequently

Arabic: إِذَنْ (ar) (ʔiḏan), لِذٰلِكَ (liḏālika)
Moroccan Arabic: إدا／إدن (ʔidan), داك الشي علاش (dāk eš-šī ʕlāš)

South Levantine Arabic: عشان هيك (ʕašān hēk)
Armenian: հետևաբար (hy) (hetewabar), ուստի (hy) (usti)
Azerbaijani: ona görə də, buna görə də, beləliklə
Bashkir: шуға күрә (şuğa kürə), шуның өсөн (şunıñ ösön)
Bulgarian: следователно (bg) (sledovatelno)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 所以 (zh) (suǒyǐ), 因此 (zh) (yīncǐ)
Czech: proto (cs), tudíž (cs)
Danish: derfor (da)
Dutch: daarom (nl), bijgevolg (nl) (formal), daardoor (nl) (beginning of sentence), waardoor (nl) (not in beginning of sentence)
Esperanto: do (eo)
Finnish: joten (fi), siten (fi)
French: par conséquent (fr), en conséquence (fr), donc (fr)
Georgian: შესაბამისად (šesabamisad)
German: deswegen (de), deshalb (de), darum (de)
Greek: επομένως (el) (epoménos), οπότε (el) (opóte), άρα (el) (ára)
Ancient: διό (dió)
Hungarian: következésképpen (hu), tehát (hu)
Icelandic: þess vegna (is), þar af leiðir, þar af leiðandi
Italian: dunque (it)
Japanese: 従って (ja) (したがって, shitagatte)
Kazakh: сондықтан (sondyqtan)
Lao: please add this translation if you can
Latin: igitur
Malay: jadi (ms)
Malayalam: അതുകൊണ്ട് (atukoṇṭŭ)
Maltese: għaldaqstant
Maori: nā reira (refers to past events), mā reira (for future events)
Marathi: त्याअर्थी (tyāarthī)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: følgelig, således

Nynorsk: soleis
Pashto: نو (ps) (no)
Polish: więc (pl)
Portuguese: portanto (pt), consequentemente (pt)
Romanian: deci (ro), așadar (ro), prin urmare
Russian: сле́довательно (ru) (slédovatelʹno), (somewhat) зато́ (ru) (zató)
Sanskrit: तस्मात् (sa) (tasmāt)
Slovak: teda, takže
Spanish: por eso (es), por consiguiente (es), por lo tanto (es), por ende (es), ergo (es), ansina que, por tanto (es), conque (es), por ello
Swedish: därför (sv)
Tagalog: ergo, kaya (tl)
Thai: จึง (th) (jʉng)
Turkish: bu yüzden, bundan dolayı, o yüzden
Ukrainian: о́тже (ótže)
West Frisian: dêrom
Yiddish: דערפֿאַר (derfar)

for that or this reason

Arabic: لِذٰلِكَ (liḏālika), لِهٰذَا (lihāḏā)
South Levantine Arabic: عشان هيك (ʕašān hēk)
Armenian: ուրեմն (hy) (uremn), ուստի (hy) (usti)
Asturian: poro, por eso
Azerbaijani: ona görə, buna görə
Bashkir: шуға күрә (şuğa kürə), шуның өсөн (şunıñ ösön)
Belarusian: таму́ (tamú)
Bulgarian: затова́ (bg) (zatová)
Burmese: ထို့ကြောင့် (my) (htui.kraung.)
Catalan: per tant (ca), per això
Chinese:
Mandarin: 所以 (zh) (suǒyǐ), 因此 (zh) (yīncǐ)
Czech: proto (cs)
Dalmatian: duanc
Danish: derfor (da)
Dutch: daarom (nl), daarvoor (nl)
Esperanto: tial (eo), tial ĉi, ĉi tial, pro kio
Estonian: sellepärast (et), seetõttu (et)
Finnish: siksi (fi), sen vuoksi, sen takia, joten (fi)
French: donc (fr), pour ça, en conséquence (fr)
Georgian: მაშასადამე (mašasadame)
German: also (de) (folglich), daher (de), (archaic, literary) sonach (de), darum (de), (literary) demnach (de), demzufolge (de), deshalb (de), deswegen (de), mithin (de), somit (de)
Greek: επομένως (el) (epoménos)
Ancient: οὖν (oûn), τοίνυν (toínun)
Guaraní: upévare
Hebrew: אָז (he) (az), עַל כֵּן (he), לְפִיכָךְ, לָכֵן (he) (lachen)
Hindi: इसलिए (islie), इसलिये (isliye)
Hungarian: azért (hu), ezért (hu), emiatt (hu)
Irish: dá bhrí sin
Italian: quindi (it), dunque (it), perciò (it), pertanto (it)
Japanese: それ故に (それゆえに, soreyue ni), 故に (ja) (ゆえに, yue ni), ですから (desu kara), 従って (ja) (したがって, shitagatte)
Kazakh: сондықтан (sondyqtan), сол үшін (sol üşın)
Khmer: អញ្ចឹង (ʼɑñcəng)
Korean: 따라서 (ko) (ttaraseo), 그래서 (ko) (geuraeseo), 그러므로 (ko) (geureomeuro)
Lao: ດັ່ງນັ້ນ (dang nan), ແລ້ວຈືງ (lǣu chư̄ng)
Latin: ergō (la), igitur, itaque (la), autem (la), propterea
Macedonian: затоа (zatoa)
Malay: jadi (ms)
Maori: nā reira (refers to past events), mā reira (for future events)
Navajo: háálá, éí biniinaa
Norwegian:
Bokmål: derfor (no)

Nynorsk: difor, derfor
Ojibwe: nindawaa
Pashto: ځکه (źëka)
Persian: بدلیل آن (be-dalil-e ân)
Polish: więc (pl), zatem (pl), dlatego (pl), przeto (pl), tak że, toteż (pl)
Portuguese: portanto (pt), assim sendo, por isto, logo (pt), por isso (pt)
Romanian: deci (ro), așadar (ro), prin urmare
Romansch: perquai
Russian: поэ́тому (ru) (poétomu), потому́ (ru) (potomú), посему́ (ru) (posemú) (dated or poetic)
Sanskrit: यथा (sa) (yathā)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: дакле, стога, зато

Roman: dakle (sh), stoga (sh), zato (sh)
Slovak: preto
Slovene: zato
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: togodla
Spanish: por eso (es), por consiguiente (es), por lo tanto (es), por ende (es)
Swedish: därför (sv)
Tagalog: ergo
Telugu: అందుకే (andukē), కాబట్టి (te) (kābaṭṭi), అందుచేత (te) (anducēta), కనుక (te) (kanuka)
Thai: ดังนั้น (th) (dang-nán), แล้วจึง (lɛ́ɛo-jʉng)
Turkish: (obsolete) binaenaleyh (tr), bu nedenle, bu sebeple, bu yüzden, o yüzden, bundan dolayı, dolayısıyla (tr)
Ukrainian: тому́ (uk) (tomú), зати́м (zatým)
Urdu: اس لئے (is li'e)
Vietnamese: bởi vậy, cho nên (朱𢧚), vì thế (vi) (為勢)
West Frisian: dêrom
Yiddish: דערפֿאַר (derfar)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Crimean Tatar: ^{(please verify)} ayse
Georgian: ^{(please verify)} ამიტომ (amiṭom)
Ido: ^{(please verify)} do (io)
Italian: ^{(please verify)} dunque (it), ^{(please verify)} quindi (it), ^{(please verify)} per questo
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 그러므로 (ko) (geureomeuro)
Old English: ^{(please verify)} þæs, ^{(please verify)} þȳ
Swahili: ^{(please verify)} kwa hiyo
Volapük: ^{(please verify)} klu (vo)

References

^ Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎^[1], volumes I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 4.36, page 124.

[1] Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎^[1], volumes I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 4.36, page 124.

[1]