以…为代价
at the cost of; at the price of
Structure
（主语） 以 付出的东西 为代价 ，换取／换来 得到的东西 · …是以…为代价的
What it means
‘At the cost of’: what goes between 以 and 为代价 is what you lose, never what you gain.
How it is built
以 + what is lost + 为代价，换取/换来/取得 + gain, or …是以…为代价的: 这场胜利是以许多人的牺牲为代价的 (the victory was won at the cost of many lives).
When to use it
Formal; common in warnings and negatives: 不能以牺牲环境为代价 (5-4). 以健康为代价 means health was given up to get something else.
Watch out
Don't drop 为: ✗以健康代价 ✓以健康为代价. And never put the gain inside the frame: the thing sacrificed goes between 以 and 为代价.
Examples
他以健康为代价拼命加班，最后累得住进了医院。
He worked himself into the ground at the expense of his health and ended up in hospital.
这座城市曾经以过度开采地下水为代价，换来了几十年的快速发展。
This city once bought decades of rapid growth at the cost of over-pumping its groundwater.
这场胜利是以许多人的牺牲为代价的。
The victory was won at the cost of many people’s sacrifice.
Learn this in Lesson 172 · HSK 7–9: 南水北调 (Sending southern water north)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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