害 — Links a culprit's (usually careless) action to the bad outcome it inflicts on someone else, with the blame riding along.

TSUMUGU · TBCL 4 (est.) · 語法

害 grammar point · tier 1 · causative-of-misfortune 害 (cause someone to suffer, with blame)

· hài

Links a culprit's (usually careless) action to the bad outcome it inflicts on someone else, with the blame riding along.

Hook inherited from 讓.

Links a culprit's (usually careless) action to the bad outcome it inflicts on someone else, with the blame riding along.

框 · Frame

[culprit + their slip] 害 [victim] [bad outcome]

觸 · Trigger

Someone's slip-up landed a bad result on me, and I am putting the fault on them.

序 · The move

1Name the culprit and the slip-up first — the clause that caused the trouble.

2Place 害, then the one who suffers.

3End on the bad outcome they are stuck with.Is the result genuinely bad, and is the fault landing on the first party? If it is neutral or good, 害 is the wrong word.

例 · Examples

1他忘了forgot帶bring手機，害caused (me to suffer)我一整天the whole day都找不到couldn't reach / find他。

He forgot to bring his phone, so I couldn't reach him all day long.

界 · Boundary

因為…所以…

因為…所以… reports a neutral cause and effect. 害 puts the fault on the first party, and the outcome landing on the second party is always bad.

讓 / 使

讓/使 is a colourless causative — make or let something happen, good or bad. 害 only carries an unwanted result, and tags the cause as someone's fault.

傷害

傷害 is the full verb, harm directly inflicted on an object. The connector 害 inflicts a downstream consequence — the victim ends up worse off without being struck.

他幫了我，害我很高興。 ✗ → 他幫了我，讓我很高興。 ✓ (good outcome takes 讓, not 害)

因為他遲到害我們等很久。 ✗ → 他遲到，害我們等了很久。 ✓ (drop 因為 — 害 already carries the cause)

害我感冒了這場雨。 ✗ → 這場雨害我感冒了。 ✓ (the cause comes before 害, the victim after)

English 'made me' is neutral and can precede anything; learners reach for 害 wherever they would say 'made me,' but 害 refuses good or neutral results and blames the cause.