While studying this morning, I became interested in how to say "When you were
a child, did you read books for fun?" in Japanese.

In this case, would I use ため?

Or would it be something like this: スパに行く食べ物を買う…。

I guess I'm wondering how to state the purpose of doing something, how to use
ため, and also what are the differences in form are.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-22T13:41:09.803
8196
2012-10-22T20:32:15.623
2012-10-22T17:01:28.223
1820
question
grammar translation
How do I say "the reason why" or "the purpose of" in Japanese?
In this case you CAN use ため depending on the grammar that you use with it.
Specifically you could say 楽しみのため, or "for the purpose of fun," or you could
say 遊びで, meaning just to have fun (rather than out of obligation). So a full
sentence would be like 子供の時楽しみのために本を読みましたか？

As for the second example you gave, スパに行く食べ物を買う means that you will buy food
that goes to the spa. スーパーに行って食べ物を買う, using the te form, will express the idea
of going to the store and buying food, but NOT going to the store for the
purpose of buying food. In that case you would also use ために, as in
食べ物を買うためにスーパーに行った。
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-22T14:18:43.533
8198
2012-10-22T14:18:43.533
1797
8196
answer
To say "As a child, Did you/I read books for fun" I would use

> 子供の時、趣味で読書をしていましたか？

〜で is simpler and the sentence flows better than 〜のために, which can be used to
mean the same thing. However, when I say

> 子供の時、趣味のために読書をしていましたか？

actually sounds a bit awkward, since 〜のために (or ため in general) literally
translates to "for" but it has a tiny bit of connotation to indicate whatever
is done is a requirement, or something purposefully done. The reason why the
specific example above sound a bit awkward to me is that your hobby is not
necessarily something you have to do; you naturally do it out of enjoyment. So
using 〜のため to indicate your purpose, I think, has an effect of emphasizing
your will to do that thing.

If instead the sentence is

> 昨日、仕事のために読書をしていましたか？

then the awkwardness goes away, since the reading was a requirement for the
job, something needed to be done by will.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-22T20:32:15.623
8203
2012-10-22T20:32:15.623
1692
8196
answer