LEARN + JAPANESE / 150 of 186 JLPT N2
What Set It Off? きっかけ・を契機に
きっかけ is the event, reason, or encounter that gives rise to a new action. を契機[けいき]に has a similar “trigger / turning point” meaning, but sounds formal and often appears in reports about a wider change.
A friend's recommendation got me started learning Japanese.
きっかけ can name the motivating event with をきっかけに, or ask for the story behind a new habit: 日本語を始めたきっかけは何ですか, “What got you started with Japanese?”
The earthquake prompted a review of building safety standards.
を契機に presents an event as the turning point that prompted a larger response or new phase. It is common in news, policy, and formal explanations; in everyday conversation, きっかけに is usually more natural.
In Real Life
When someone asks why you took up a hobby, きっかけ is the natural word for the story: 友達に誘われたのがきっかけです, “A friend invited me, and that’s what started it.” Use を契機に for a formal account of a broader shift.
Hint · 힌트
Both point to a trigger. きっかけ is flexible and conversational; を契機に frames a specific event as a turning point, often for a policy, organization, or society.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| friend | |
| to recommend | |
| to learn, take lessons | |
| to begin | |
| trigger, opportunity | |
| earthquake disaster | |
| turning point | |
| building | |
| safety standards | |
| to review, revise | |
| system, institution | |
| to introduce, implement | |
| event, occurrence | |
| change | |
| to take action | |
| background | |
| origin, beginning | |
| society | |
| to become the trigger | |
| to create an opportunity |
YOUR PROGRESS
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