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おかげで details

write + thanks to

kaku okage de

thanks to; because of N — crediting a welcome result to N

友達ともだち手伝てつだってくれたおかげで、はやわったよ。

tomodachi ga tetsudatte kureta okage de, hayaku owatta yo.

Thanks to my friend helping out, I finished early. casual

先生せんせい丁寧ていねいおしえてくれたおかげで、試験しけん合格ごうかくできた。

sensei ga teinei ni oshiete kureta okage de, shiken ni goukaku dekita.

Thanks to the teacher's careful teaching, I was able to pass the exam. neutral

Examples

thanks to; because of — a cause credited for a welcome result

友達ともだち手伝てつだってくれたおかげで、はやわったよ。

tomodachi ga tetsudatte kureta okage de, hayaku owatta yo.

Thanks to my friend helping out, I finished early. casual

先生せんせい丁寧ていねいおしえてくれたおかげで、試験しけん合格ごうかくできた。

sensei ga teinei ni oshiete kureta okage de, shiken ni goukaku dekita.

Thanks to the teacher's careful teaching, I was able to pass the exam. neutral

おかげさまで、無事ぶじにプロジェクトをえることができました。

okagesamade, buji ni purojekuto o oeru koto ga dekimashita.

Thanks to everyone's support, we were able to bring the project to a successful close. formal

Formation

Notes

おかげさまで, addressed to no one in particular, is the standard humble
greeting opener/closer (おかげさまで元気げんきです). Sentence-final おかげだ
works like せいだ. おかげで can turn sarcastic with a bad outcome
(寝坊ねぼうしたおかげで遅刻ちこくだ) — context, not grammar, signals the irony.

Related patterns

Similar

  • から reports a cause with no credit attached (電車が遅れたから、遅刻した is neutral cause-and-effect); おかげで casts that same cause as a benefit the speaker is grateful for — swapping おかげで for から drains the sentence of gratitude, leaving a bare fact.

Opposite

  • せいでplain-antonym

    Same Nの/な-adjな frame, opposite valence — せいで assigns blame for an unwanted outcome (雨のせいで中止になった), おかげで credits a welcome one (先生のおかげで合格した); swapping them into the wrong outcome reads as either backhanded thanks or misplaced blame.

Same meaning

thanks to; because of (credit vs. blame)

PatternAttaches to
せいで