# Khiến: make, cause, lead to in Vietnamese (B2)

> News reports have three verbs for "cause", and the choice depends on what comes after.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/khien-cause/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**make, cause, lead to**

Pattern: `[cause] + khiến (cho) + [person or thing] + [verb or adjective] · [cause] + gây (ra) + [harm noun] · [cause] + dẫn đến / dẫn tới + [result]`

Level: B2 (our estimate) · Register: formal

Typed without accents: khien, gay, dan den, dan toi

News reports have three verbs for "cause", and the choice depends on what comes after.

*Khiến* takes someone or something, then what happens to them, a verb or an adjective: *Mưa lớn khiến nhiều tuyến đường ngập sâu.* Heavy rain left many streets deeply flooded. It's the written cousin of everyday *làm* or *làm cho*, and like them it can take *cho*: *khiến cho*. It's very common with feelings: *khiến người dân lo lắng* (worried residents).

*Gây* takes a noun, almost always something harmful: *gây thiệt hại* (cause damage), *gây ô nhiễm* (cause pollution), *gây tranh cãi* (stir controversy), *gây ùn tắc* (cause congestion). *Gây ra* is the same with a little more weight: *Vụ cháy gây ra thiệt hại lớn.* For something good, news uses other verbs, such as *mang lại* (bring).

*Dẫn đến*, or *dẫn tới*, means "lead to". It links a cause to a result further down the line, a noun or a whole statement: *Thiếu nước kéo dài dẫn đến mất mùa.* A long water shortage led to crop failure. It's the natural choice when there are steps in between.

So it's *khiến* + person + verb, *gây* + a harm noun, and *dẫn đến* + a result. You meet all three in news and papers. In conversation, *làm* covers most of it: *Mưa lớn quá làm ngập hết đường.*

## A common mistake

✗ Cơn bão khiến thiệt hại lớn cho nông dân.

✓ Cơn bão gây thiệt hại lớn cho nông dân.

*Khiến* needs someone and what happens to them. A noun like *thiệt hại* (damage) goes after *gây*.

## Examples

- Giá xăng tăng liên tục khiến nhiều hộ kinh doanh vận tải gặp khó khăn. — Repeated petrol price rises have put many small transport businesses in difficulty.
- Vụ cháy kho hàng tối qua gây thiệt hại ước tính 5 tỷ đồng. — Last night's warehouse fire caused damage estimated at 5 billion đồng.
- Việc xả nước thải chưa qua xử lý đã gây ô nhiễm nghiêm trọng cho con kênh. — Discharging untreated waste water has seriously polluted the canal.
- Tình trạng thiếu giáo viên kéo dài có thể dẫn đến chất lượng giáo dục giảm sút. — A prolonged shortage of teachers could lead to a decline in the quality of education.

## Compare

- [Making someone feel or do: làm (cho)](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/lam-cho-cause/): make / cause

Previous in News, official and academic writing: [Carrying out: tiến hành / thực hiện + verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/tien-hanh/)
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