Wherein means 'in which' or 'in what'. It has two uses.

Wherein means 'in which' or 'in what'Wherein的意思是'in which'或'in what'。It has two uses它有兩種用法。

The commoner one joins parts of a sentence and points back to a thing already named: 'a house wherein no one had lived for years' = 'a house in which no one had lived'. The 'in' can be a real place ('the room wherein she slept') or an abstract one ('a book wherein you find all his ideas').

The commoner one joins parts of a sentence and points back to a thing already named比較常見的那種用法是連接句子的兩部分，並指回前面已經提到的事物：'a house wherein no one had lived for years' = 'a house in which no one had lived''a house wherein no one had lived for years'等於'a house in which no one had lived'。The 'in' can be a real place這個'in'可以是實際的地方 ('the room wherein she slept')('the room wherein she slept')，or an abstract one也可以是抽象的 ('a book wherein you find all his ideas')('a book wherein you find all his ideas')。

The second use asks or introduces a question about the point at issue: 'Wherein lies the difference?' = 'Where exactly is the difference?' — and this survives in the useful phrase 'wherein lies the problem' or 'and therein lies the problem'.

The second use asks or introduces a question about the point at issue第二種用法是用來提出或引出一個關於重點所在的問題：'Wherein lies the difference?' = 'Where exactly is the difference?''Wherein lies the difference?'等於'Where exactly is the difference?' — and this survives in the useful phrase 'wherein lies the problem' or 'and therein lies the problem'這種用法還留在很好用的片語'wherein lies the problem'或'and therein lies the problem'裡。

It is formal and old-flavoured: legal documents, older novels, the Bible, careful academic prose. In everyday English you say 'in which', 'where', or just 'that … in'.

It is formal and old-flavoured這個字正式又帶點古味：legal documents, older novels, the Bible, careful academic prose法律文件、較舊的小說、聖經、講究的學術文章都會用。In everyday English在日常英文裡，you say 'in which', 'where', or just 'that … in'你會說'in which'、'where'，或就用'that…in'。

Compared with its cousins, wherein sits in the middle: not as dead as wherefore, not as ordinary as whereby.

Compared with its cousins跟它的親戚字相比，wherein sits in the middlewherein的位置在中間：not as dead as wherefore沒有wherefore那麼死板古老，not as ordinary as whereby也沒有whereby那麼普通。