How to say "to cause a problem" in japanese?


I wonder if there usual/fixed phrase to say "to cause a problem"? I find self-
made 問題を起こす to be inappropriate/unnatural in some way...




By far the most commonly used expressions would be:

  * 「～～が問題{もんだい} **を** 引{ひ}き起{お}こす」 and

  * 「～～が問題 **の** 原因{げんいん}となる」

Neither one would be any better than the other.

To introduce a more formal way of saying this, we also say:

  * 「問題 **は** ～～ **に** 起因{きいん}する」

With this expression, the grammatical subject is the "problem". It is not the
thing/phenomenon/person as in the first two expressions listed at the top.

Regarding your phrase 「問題を起{お}こす」, it is indeed a very common and natural-
sounding verb phrase. It is, however, closer to " **to create a problem** " in
meaning than to " **to cause a problem** ".




By far the most commonly used expressions would be:

  * 「～～が問題{もんだい} **を** 引{ひ}き起{お}こす」 and

  * 「～～が問題 **の** 原因{げんいん}となる」

Neither one would be any better than the other.

To introduce a more formal way of saying this, we also say:

  * 「問題 **は** ～～ **に** 起因{きいん}する」

With this expression, the grammatical subject is the "problem". It is not the
thing/phenomenon/person as in the first two expressions listed at the top.

Regarding your phrase 「問題を起{お}こす」, it is indeed a very common and natural-
sounding verb phrase. It is, however, closer to " **to create a problem** " in
meaning than to " **to cause a problem** ".

