In Japanese, when you want to say “thanks to…” or “because of…”, you’ll often hear these two similar expressions:

👉 ～おかげで
👉 ～せいで

Both mean something happened because of someone or something — but the nuance is totally different!

Let’s learn how to use them naturally. 💬✨

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🟢 ～おかげで — “Thanks to…” (Positive reason)

Use ～おかげで when you want to express gratitude or a good result caused by someone or something.

It literally means “thanks to (someone/something)” — in a positive way.

💡Structure:

Noun / Verb / Adjective + おかげで

💬 Examples:

• 先生せんせいのおかげで、日本語にほんごが上手じょうずになりました。
  → Thanks to my teacher, my Japanese has improved.
• 天気てんきがよかったおかげで、楽たのしい旅行りょこうができました。
  → Thanks to the nice weather, we had a fun trip.
• 両親りょうしんのおかげで、今いまの自分じぶんがあります。
  → I am who I am thanks to my parents.

🪷 Tip: You can also say 「おかげさまで」 politely, meaning “Thanks to you” or “Fortunately.”

おかげさまで元気げんきです。(I’m fine, thanks to you.)

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🔴 ～せいで — “Because of…” (Negative reason)

Use ～せいで when something bad or unfortunate happened because of someone or something.

It’s the negative counterpart of ～おかげで.

💡Structure:

Noun / Verb / Adjective + せいで

💬 Examples:

• 雨あめのせいで、試合しあいが中止ちゅうしになりました。
  → Because of the rain, the game was canceled.
• 彼かれのせいで、遅おくれました。
  → I was late because of him.
• 寝坊ねぼうしたせいで、朝あさごはんを食たべられませんでした。
  → Because I overslept, I couldn’t eat breakfast.

🌀 Note: Sometimes, if you want to soften the tone, people say it humorously:

あなたのせいで太ふとったよ〜（笑わら）
I gained weight because of you (lol)!

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🌼 Summary Table

Expression	Meaning	Feeling	Example
～おかげで	Thanks to	Positive 😊	先生せんせいのおかげで合格ごうかくしました。
～せいで	Because of	Negative 😣	風邪かぜのせいで学校がっこうを休やすみました。

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💭 In short:

• Use おかげで when you’re thankful.
• Use せいで when you’re frustrated.

So next time you want to say “because of you,” choose wisely — it could sound like a compliment or a complaint! 😆

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