connective N3 common casualpolitewritten

〜せいで — because of ~ (and something bad resulted)

〜せいで・せいで

Builds on せい

Meaning

because of ~ / owing to ~ — links a cause to an undesirable result, with a note of blame

せいで states a cause and blames it for a bad outcome that follows: 雨あめのせいで試合しあいが中止ちゅうしになった ('because of the rain, the match was cancelled'). Unlike neutral から/ので, せいで carries clear negative valence — the result is unwanted and the cause is at fault. Its positive twin is おかげで. For an uncertain cause, せいか ('perhaps because').

Key sentence

事故じこのせいで、電車でんしゃが遅おくれた。

Because of an accident, the train was delayed.

Formation

Attaches to	Form	Example
Noun + の / plain clause / na-adj な / i-adj + せいで	Nの / 〜 plain + せいで	渋滞じゅうたいのせいで / 食たべ過すぎたせいで

Examples

君きみのせいで、計画けいかくが台無だいなしだ。

Because of you, the plan is ruined.

風邪かぜのせいで、仕事しごとを休やすんだ。

Because of a cold, I took the day off work.

暑あつさのせいで、よく眠ねむれなかった。

Owing to the heat, I couldn't sleep well.

Easily confused with

〜おかげで Same structure, opposite valence: せいで blames a *bad* result on the cause; おかげで credits a *good* one. 雨あめのせいで (bad) vs 君きみのおかげで (good). 〜からから/ので state a reason neutrally; せいで adds blame and signals the result is unwelcome. Use から for a plain 'because', せいで to fault the cause.

Notes

せいか replaces せいで when the cause is uncertain: 緊張きんちょうのせいか、声こえが震ふるえた ('perhaps from nerves, my voice shook').

See 〜せいで in real sentences

Jengo shows 〜せいで the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.

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