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I'm reading this article about Ashimo the robot made by Honda and I don't understand the use of ため in this sentence. I have usually seen ため followed by the particle の or に, but in this case no particle is following it. Why is that? How is ため being used here?

I know ため can mean 'the benefit of' and the の or に give direction of who/what is getting the benefit, so I believe something similar is going on here. I'm assuming ため is pointing back to the portion about Ashimo, but I'm not sure.

アシモは２本の足で歩くことができて、高い技術を使っているため、世界が注目しました

Ashimo has the ability to walk using 2 legs and this is due to the use of expensive technology which the world has noticed

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  • As a hint, it has multiple definitions, not just "benefit."
    – Leebo
    Commented Jul 1, 2018 at 0:35
  • Another hint, 高い has multiple definitions as well.
    – BJCUAI
    Commented Jul 1, 2018 at 1:25
  • @user27280, that's interesting, so rather than talking about money, that phrase 高い技術 can be translated literally word for word, huh? ^_^ Not sure that hint helps understand the use of ため here, but I like that it's the same phrase in Japanese that it is in English. ^_^
    – ericfromabeno
    Commented Jul 1, 2018 at 1:52
  • @Tylersansan , also don't forget that a verb ending in て、 is used to link verb phrases much the same way と is used to link nouns or noun phrases. .... also I'm not sure why we're teasing you with hints.
    – ericfromabeno
    Commented Jul 1, 2018 at 2:11
  • I'm honestly not sure still, even after looking up the other definitions of ため I can't tell if my translation is right or not. The English under the sentence is my translation. Not sure if that was apparent in my original post
    – Tylersanzura
    Commented Jul 1, 2018 at 2:47

1 Answer 1

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As mentioned in the comments, ため has multiple uses and meanings. For your example sentence refer to the following:

Weblio: Definition 3.

Jisho.org:　Definition 3.

ため in this case is used to describe the reason behind the worldwide notice of Asimo. You can think of it as 'due to' in this sentence.

Due to being able to walk on two feet and using a high (level) of technology, Asimo is recognized around the world.

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  • So I wasn't too far off in my translation. A little choppy and 高い meaning high (level) definitely feels better, but roughly correct. Thanks for the explantion
    – Tylersanzura
    Commented Jul 1, 2018 at 4:09
  • Glad the explanation worked for you.
    – BJCUAI
    Commented Jul 1, 2018 at 4:36
  • I'm interested in the fact that you used a semicolon to keep those two sentence fragments separate, when I would have thought the translation was more like: "Asimo, being able to walk bipedally and using high-tech electronics, drew world-wide attention." ... Or similar. In other words, linking the two phrases as both being related to why it gained fame... Is my thinking off there?
    – ericfromabeno
    Commented Jul 1, 2018 at 6:28
  • I used a semicolon because I see them as being linked, but not as directly as the second 'clause'. Your translation would be better, as 'Asimo' wouldn't need to repeat.
    – BJCUAI
    Commented Jul 1, 2018 at 8:50
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    「アシモは２本の足で歩くことができて」と「高い技術を使っている」は、二つとも、「世界が注目しました」の理由ですねえ。。どう見ても・・・。「｛アシモは２本の足で歩くことができて、高い技術を使っている｝ため、世界が注目しました」ですよね。。　「アシモは２本の足で歩くことができました。そして、高い技術を使っているため、世界が注目しました。」じゃなくて・・・
    – chocolate ♦
    Commented Jul 1, 2018 at 13:38

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