because of (blaming a bad result)

せいで attributes a negative result to a cause, assigning blame. Attach it to a plain-form verb/adjective, a noun with の, or a na-adjective with な. Its positive counterpart is おかげで (thanks to).

Examples

• 君きみのせいで、遅刻ちこくした。

  Kimi no sei de, chikoku shita.

  I was late because of you.

• 寝坊ねぼうしたせいで、バスに乗のり遅おくれた。

  Nebou shita sei de, basu ni noriokureta.

  Because I overslept, I missed the bus.

Vocabulary in these examples

• 君 you (casual)
• 遅刻 being late, tardiness
• する to do
• バス bus
• 乗る to ride; to get on
• 遅れる to be late

Related patterns · Cause and purpose

• 〜ために（原因） because of; due to
• 〜ように so that; in order to (a state or ability)
• 〜おかげで thanks to; owing to (a good result)