～せいで
because of / due to (blame)
～せいで attributes a negative result to its cause: “because of X, something bad happened”. After a noun it takes の (Noun + のせいで); after a verb or adjective it follows the plain form.
It always carries a tone of blame or complaint. Its grateful counterpart is ～おかげで, which credits a cause for a good result. Choose せいで for blame and おかげで for thanks.
1. Blaming a thing or situation
With a noun, link it to せいで with the particle の. The main clause states the unwelcome outcome.
雨のせいで試合が中止になった。
“Because of the rain, the match was cancelled.”
- 雨（あめ）= rain
- の = linking particle
- せいで = because of (blame)
- 試合（しあい）= match, game
- が = subject marker
- 中止になった（ちゅうしになった）= was cancelled
2. Blaming an action or event
A whole clause can come before せいで, usually in the past tense. Speakers also use it about their own actions when admitting what caused the problem.
夜遅くまでゲームをしたせいで、寝坊した。
“Because I played games until late at night, I overslept.”
- 夜遅く（よるおそく）= late at night
- まで = until
- ゲーム = video games
- を = object marker
- した = did, played (past of する)
- せいで = because of (blame)
- 寝坊した（ねぼうした）= overslept
How to form it
Noun + のせいで / plain clause + せいで (na-adjectives take な: ～なせいで)
- 雨（あめ）= rain → 雨のせいで（あめのせいで）= because of the rain
- 食べすぎる（たべすぎる）= to eat too much → 食べすぎたせいで（たべすぎたせいで）= because (I) ate too much
- 暑い（あつい）= hot → 暑いせいで（あついせいで）= because of the heat
Key idea
～せいで points the finger: the result is bad, and X is to blame. If the result is good and you feel thankful, switch to ～おかげで, the structure stays exactly the same.
Other N3 grammar
Updated .