Means 'perhaps because of; maybe due to'. The speaker tentatively suggests a cause for some result without being certain it is the true reason. The か adds doubt to せい, softening the blame into speculation.
[Verb・い-adj plain] + せいか / [な-adj] + な + せいか / [Noun] + の + せいか
年のせいか、最近疲れやすい。
Toshi no sei ka, saikin tsukareyasui.
Maybe because of my age, I get tired easily these days.
Noun 年 + の + せいか tentatively offers age as the possible cause.
緊張していたせいか、うまく話せなかった。
Kinchou shite ita sei ka, umaku hanasenakatta.
Perhaps because I was nervous, I couldn't speak well.
Verb past 緊張していた + せいか suggests nervousness as an uncertain reason.
天気が悪いせいか、客が少ない。
Tenki ga warui sei ka, kyaku ga sukunai.
Maybe because the weather is bad, there are few customers.
い-adj 悪い + せいか speculates that bad weather is behind the low turnout.
• Expresses tentative, uncertain reasoning — 'maybe it's because'. • The result can be neutral or negative; certainty is lower than せいで. • Often begins a sentence explaining an observed effect.
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ~せいか is tested against.
せいで asserts the cause with certainty and blame; せいか only guesses at it ('perhaps because').
おかげか tentatively credits a positive cause; せいか tentatively points to a neutral or negative one.
Study Japanese grammar on LenGaki

Get the Android app
The app adds offline study, home-screen widgets, stroke-order tracing, speaking practice with pronunciation scoring, and an AI tutor that answers questions in context — none of which fits in a browser tab.