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Because of A, B
A is marked as the blame or cause of something happening.
26
交 通 渋 滞 の せい で コ ン サ ー ト に 間 に 合 い ま せ ん で し た 。 
Because of the traffic jam, I didn't make it to the concert on time.
32
彼 女 が 私 を 騙 し た せい で 、 別 れ な け れ ば ならなかった 。 
We had to break up, because she deceived me.
38
今日 １０ 時 間 仕 事 を した せい で 家 に 帰 っ て か ら すぐ に 寝 ま し た 。 
I went to sleep as soon as I got home because I worked for ten hours today.
33
天 気 の せい で 肉 祭 り は 中 止 に なりました 。 
Due to the weather, the meat festival was suspended.

Getting the sentences
Construction
(Elements in parentheses are optional.)
Aい-adjective
 
AVerb: Casual
 
Aな-adjective な/だった
 
ANoun の
 
 
せいか/で/にBNegative\Positive result*
Usage of で, か, and に
When か is used after せい, the result B is believed to be caused by A, but there is sone uncertainty.

風邪 を 引 い た せい か 、 学 校 を 休 み ま し た 。 (correct)

They didn't go to school, perhaps because they caught a cold.
When で comes after せい, the result B is always undesirable, and is outside of the control of the speaker.

雨 の せい で 外 で 遊 べ ま せ ん で し た 。 (correct)

I couldn't play outside because of the rain.
に is used if せい comes before a verb such as する.

これ は あなた の せい に する 。 (correct)

I'll blame you for this.
Related Expressions
おかげで
Where this grammar is found


Grammar usage notes

"A せいで B" = "It's because of A, that result B (which is bad) happened"

"A せいか B" = "It's probably because of A, that result B (which can be good or bad) happened"

If one wants to be sarcastic, they can replace "A せいで B" with "A おかげで B" to get "Thanks to A, result B (which is bad) happened". (Normally, if one was not being sarcastic, "A おかげで B" would be "Thanks to A, result B (which is good) happened")
0
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Anonymous123
Level: 1426

Questions/Discussion

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Discussion about this grammar
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mireille
Level: 1
Plain form I-adjective + せい
Plain form Na-adjective + せい

are also possible according to Unicom.

Other than that, the grammar books says that せいか can both be used for a negative and positive result.
よく寝たせいか、今朝は頭がすっきりしている。
0
15 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 296
Thanks, spiced up the page. I just finished writing a tool where I can very easily modify the entire page (not just the meaning and usage patterns), including adding example sentences in the explanation, so I'll be able to enrich the pages much more easily.
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15 years ago
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sid007
Level: 1
For your example, よく勉強したせいか、言いせいせきをとれました. the usage of the kanji 言い here seems wrong, you really wanted 良い (i.e. a "good" grade), but would you even bother with kanji in this situation?
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15 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 296
Thanks - you're right - there was a small problem when the sentence was tied to the vocabulary. I'll fix it right now. Thanks!
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15 years ago
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cyrus
Level: 1
「い-adjective A + な/だった + せい + か/で/に + Negative resultB」
Shouldn't this be for な-adjectives?
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15 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 296
Fixed, thanks!
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15 years ago
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cyrus
Level: 1
「に is used if せい comes before a noun such as する. 」
する is a verb

If せいか can also have desirable outcomes, then "Negative result" doesn't apply in the whole for B.
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15 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 296
Thanks -

Before I make the change to the usage patterns, which do you think would be more clear:

1. Splitting out the か to a new set of usages (so there'd be 8 listed instead of 4)
2. Keep the 4, but change 'negative' to 'negative/positive' (smaller, but you'd have to read the notes below it in order to know the difference between か and で.
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15 years ago
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cyrus
Level: 1
I guess I would go for splitting it up, since it seems か and に are significantly different in that case. But the せいか is rather new to me, so don't take my words to seriously ^^.
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15 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 296
Alright - I thought up a bit of a compromise, so I did that (changes have already been put in)
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15 years ago
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