connective N2 uncommon politewritten
の関係で — due to
の関係で ・ のかんけいで
Meaning
- due to ~ / owing to ~ / because of (circumstances involving) ~ — cites a practical, often external reason without spelling out the details
Key sentence
仕事の関係で、引っ越すことになった。
Owing to work, I ended up having to move.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | N + の関係で | 予算の関係で / 時間の関係で |
When: Names a circumstance as the reason while staying vague about specifics — handy for polite, non-committal explanations.
Examples
予算の関係で、計画を縮小した。
Due to budget, we scaled the plan back.
時間の関係で、質問は一つだけにします。
Owing to time, we'll take only one question.
Easily confused with
〜せいで せいで blames a specific cause for a bad outcome; の関係で is neutral, pointing at a circumstantial factor without assigning fault and without naming exactly what about it caused the result. 〜ためだ／〜ために ため states the reason explicitly and directly ('it is because ~'); の関係で gestures at a circumstance vaguely ('something to do with ~').
See の関係で in real sentences
Jengo shows の関係で the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.