ゆえに

JLPT N1approx.Written
Meaning
  1. 1Because of / owing to; attaches to a clause or noun to state the reason for a result.Ex. 1
  2. 2Used at the start of a sentence as a conjunction meaning 'therefore, hence', drawing a conclusion.
Formation
Verb (plain form)+ゆえにe.g. 過失があったゆえに
i-adj. (plain form)+ゆえに
na-adj. stem+なである+ゆえに
Noun+(の) ゆえにe.g. 若さゆえに
Noun+である+ゆえに
Variantゆえwithout に
Modifierゆえの+Noun
Conjunctionゆえに at the start of a sentence= therefore
Examples
Because his childhood experiences had been deeply engraved in his heart, he strongly empathized with the film.
Because the person himself had been guilty of gross negligence, the claim for damages was dismissed.
Usage

A stiff, written expression found in legal texts, academic writing, formal reports and literary prose. It presents a cause from which the result follows as a natural or logical consequence. It is noticeably more literary than ために and far more formal than everyday ので or から.

Watch out

Do not use ゆえに in casual conversation; ので or から sound natural there.

Note that sentence-initial ゆえに means 'therefore' and introduces a conclusion, as in logical proofs.

Do not attach ゆえに to だ; use な or である after な-adjectives and nouns instead.

Easily confused with
  • につきN2When 「につき」 expresses a cause, it attaches only to nouns and appears mainly in notices and announcements (e.g., 「工事中につき」); it also has 'per...' and 'regarding...' meanings. 「ゆえに」 can attach to verbs and adjectives, can stand alone at the start of a sentence, and leans toward argumentative reasoning, so the two are generally not interchangeable.
  • こととてN1「こととて」 also expresses a cause, but usually for excusable reasons such as youth or unfamiliarity, and the following clause is often an apology or request for understanding; it is not used for plain objective cause-and-effect statements and has no conjunction use at the start of a sentence meaning 'therefore.'
  • ためにN3Besides expressing a cause, 「ために」 can express purpose ('in order to'), a meaning 「ゆえに」 lacks. For causes the two are similar, but 「ために」 is neutral in register and requires 「の」 after nouns, while 「ゆえに」 is strongly literary and can also serve as a sentence-initial conjunction.
  • のでN5「ので」 corresponds only to the cause-expressing use of 「ゆえに」; it is neutral and softer in tone, and in conversation you should use 「ので」 rather than 「ゆえに」. With nouns and な-adjectives you must say 「なので」—unlike 「ゆえに」, it cannot attach directly to nouns.
  • からN5As a cause marker, 「から」 is similar to 「ゆえに」 but neutral and common in conversation, and the following clause can contain requests or expressions of volition; 「ゆえに」 is formal and literary and should not replace 「から」 in speech. 「から」 also marks a starting point, a meaning 「ゆえに」 lacks.
  • ことからN2「ことから」 focuses on drawing a judgment based on facts or explaining the origin of a name, with an objective tone that is less archaic and stiff than 「ゆえに」. It requires 「である」 after nouns and, unlike 「ゆえに」, cannot stand alone at the start of a sentence as a conjunction.

ゆえに is a literary cause marker for logical consequences. につき is used mainly with nouns in notices and announcements; こととて is an archaic form typical of apologies and excuses; ために is a more neutral formal cause marker that can also express purpose. ので and から are the everyday conversational choices, and ことから infers a conclusion from observed facts ('judging from the fact that').

Grammar · JLPT grammar levels are community estimates, not official (no official lists have been published since the 2010 revision).

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