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〜おかげで・〜せいで (okage de / sei de)

Cozykotobar | Naoki

Sep 8

1 min read

JLPT N3

Two ways to give a cause — one grateful, one blaming.

Meaning

“Thanks to ~” (good result) vs “because of ~” (bad result). Both give a cause, with opposite feelings.

Formation

Verb / い-adj (plain) + おかげで / せいで
な-adj + な + …; Noun + の + …

Examples

先生のおかげで、合格できました。

Sensei no okage de, gōkaku dekimashita. — Thanks to my teacher, I passed.

雨のせいで、試合が中止になった。

Ame no sei de, shiai ga chūshi ni natta. — Because of the rain, the match was cancelled.

手伝ってくれたおかげで、早く終わった。

Tetsudatte kureta okage de, hayaku owatta. — Thanks to your help, it finished quickly.

寝坊したせいで、電車に乗り遅れた。

Nebō shita sei de, densha ni noriokureta. — Because I overslept, I missed the train.

How it works

おかげで credits a positive outcome (gratitude); せいで blames a negative one. For a neutral cause, use ために or から. せいで often implies fault or regret.

Compared with similar expressions

〜おかげで — thanks to (positive cause).
〜せいで — because of (negative cause, blame).
〜ために / から — cause (neutral).

Common mistakes

Match the feeling: おかげで for good, せいで for bad (unless being ironic).
Noun needs の: 雨のせいで

Related grammar

〜ために — because of
〜から — because
〜ので — because (softer)

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