Learn Hardcore Chinese: wèile shēntǐ jiànkāng, wǒmen yīnggāi duō zuò yùndòng.

为了 is the common fixed form for “in order to / for the sake of”.
为 by itself can also mean “for”, but:
- It sounds more formal / literary in this position.
- In textbooks and spoken Mandarin, 为了 is much more common for expressing purpose before a clause.

So you will most often hear and see:

✅ 为了身体健康，我们应该多做运动。 (very natural)
You can see 为身体健康 in more formal writing, but 为了 is safer and more typical for learners.

Why is 身体健康 written without 的, instead of 身体的健康?

Both are grammatically possible, but they feel different:

身体健康 (no 的)
- Literally: “body healthy”
- Functions like a set phrase / fixed expression meaning “bodily health” or “good health”.
- Very natural and common: 祝你身体健康！ (“Wish you good health!”)
身体的健康 (with 的)
- Literally: “the health of the body”
- Sounds more formal, analytical or emphasizes the concept “health” as a noun.

In this sentence, 身体健康 is smoother and more idiomatic:

✅ 为了身体健康，我们应该多做运动。
❌ 为了身体的健康，我们应该多做运动。 (not wrong, just more heavy/formal)

Is 健康 here an adjective (“healthy”) or a noun (“health”)?

It’s functioning a bit like both in English, but grammatically in Chinese it’s an adjective.

身体健康 = “(the) body is healthy”
- In many contexts this whole phrase is understood as “(one’s) health”.

Compare:

他很健康。 – “He is very healthy.” (adjective)
他的健康很重要。 – “His health is very important.” (noun use of the idea)

In fixed phrases like 身体健康, Chinese doesn’t need to turn it explicitly into a noun; the phrase just means “health / being healthy” in context.

What exactly does 多 do in 多做运动? Why not just 做运动?

多 here is an adverb meaning “more / do … more”.

做运动 = “do exercise” (neutral amount)
多做运动 = “do more exercise / exercise more (often / more than now)”

So 多 tells you to increase the frequency or amount of the action.
This pattern is very common:

多喝水。 – Drink more water.
少吃糖。 – Eat less sugar.
多休息。 – Rest more.

Without 多, the sentence would just say “We should do exercise” (no idea of “more than now”):

我们应该做运动。 – “We should do exercise.”
我们应该多做运动。 – “We should do more exercise.”

What’s the difference between 多做运动 and 做很多运动?

Both can be translated “do a lot of exercise”, but the nuance differs:

多做运动
- General suggestion / habit: “You should exercise more (regularly / in general).”
- Focus: increase compared to what you do now.
做很多运动
- Emphasizes the large amount of exercise.
- Often describes a fact: “He does a lot of exercise.”

So:

Advice:
- ✅ 你应该多做运动。 – You should exercise more.
Description:
- ✅ 他每天做很多运动。 – He does a lot of exercise every day.

Is 做运动 natural, or should I just say 运动 as a verb?

Both are acceptable, but usage preferences vary:

运动 alone can be a verb:
- ✅ 我们应该多运动。 – We should exercise more. (very natural)
做运动 (literally “do exercise”)
- Also understood and used, especially under influence of English/Cantonese.
- In Mainland Mandarin, many speakers feel 多运动 or 多锻炼 is a bit more natural.

So good alternatives are:

为了身体健康，我们应该多运动。
为了身体健康，我们应该多锻炼。

As a learner, 多运动 and 多锻炼 are very safe, idiomatic choices.

What’s the difference between 运动 and 锻炼?

They overlap, but there’s a nuance:

运动 (yùndòng)
- Means sports / physical exercise.
- As a noun:
  - 我喜欢运动。 – I like sports / exercising.
- As a verb:
  - 我们每天运动。 – We exercise every day.
锻炼 (duànliàn)
- Means to train / to work out / to exercise (the body or ability).
- Often used with 身体:
  - 锻炼身体。 – to exercise / to work out (literally “train the body”).

In your sentence, you could say:

我们应该多运动。
我们应该多锻炼。
我们应该多锻炼身体。

All of these are natural ways to say “We should do more exercise.”

How does 应该 work here? Is it strong like “must”?

应该 (yīnggāi) is a modal verb meaning “should / ought to”.

It expresses suggestion, reasonable duty, or expectation, not a strict command.

Strength comparison:

应该 – should, ought to (mild to medium)
要 / 得 – must, have to (stronger necessity/requirement)

Examples:

你应该多做运动。 – You should exercise more. (advice)
你得去医院。 – You must go to the hospital. (strong necessity)

Position: 应该 comes before the verb phrase:

✅ 我们应该多做运动。
❌ 我们多应该做运动。 (incorrect word order)

Could I leave out 我们 and just say 应该多做运动?

Yes, in the right context.

我们应该多做运动。 – Explicitly “We should exercise more.”
应该多做运动。 – “(People) should exercise more.”
- Subject is understood from context; it could be “we”, “you (general)”, or “everyone”.

Chinese often drops the subject when it’s clear:

累了就休息。 – “(When you / we / one is) tired, (you / we / one should) rest.”

Why is the purpose phrase 为了身体健康 placed at the beginning with a comma?

Putting 为了身体健康 at the start makes it a purpose clause, setting up the reason / goal before the main statement:

为了身体健康，我们应该多做运动。
– “In order to be healthy, we should exercise more.”

You can also move it after the subject:

我们为了身体健康，应该多做运动。 – also correct.

Both are grammatical; starting with 为了… sounds quite natural and is very common in written and spoken Chinese for clearly highlighting the purpose.

How do I pronounce each word, and is there anything tricky about the tones?

Pinyin with tones:

为(了) – wèile (4th tone + neutral; written as 为了)
身体 – shēntǐ (1st + 3rd)
健康 – jiànkāng (4th + 1st)
我们 – wǒmen (3rd + neutral)
应该 – yīnggāi (1st + 1st)
多 – duō (1st)
做 – zuò (4th)
运动 – yùndòng (4th + 4th)

Things to note:

为了 is always wèi le in this meaning (“for, in order to”).
应该 stays yīnggāi; there’s no number “one” here, so no tone sandhi on 一.
运动 is two 4th tones; make sure the second 4th tone (dòng) falls clearly after yù.