使 (shǐ): to make

Meanings

1 to make
2 to cause
3 to enable

Characters

使

shǐ

to make; to cause; to use; envoy

Examples

这件事使他很高兴。

Zhè jiàn shì shǐ tā hěn gāoxìng.

This matter made him very happy.

科技的发展使生活更方便了。

Kējì de fāzhǎn shǐ shēnghuó gèng fāngbiàn le.

The development of technology has made life more convenient.

什么原因使你改变了想法？

Shénme yuányīn shǐ nǐ gǎibiàn le xiǎngfǎ?

What made you change your mind?

Tips

grammar

使 is used in the pattern: A + 使 + B + adjective/verb. It's more formal than 让. In spoken Chinese, 让 is preferred; 使 appears more in writing.

usage

使 also appears in compound words: 使用 (to use), 大使 (ambassador), 使命 (mission).

Components

radical

亻 rén

person

Person radical anchors the original sense — to dispatch a person on a mission. That meaning still lives in 大使 ambassador, 使节 envoy, 使者 messenger. The causative 'to make/cause' grew naturally from the dispatching image: making someone do something is sending them to act.

phonetic

吏 lì

official

Right side carries the sound, with regular drift from lì to shǐ (lateral-to-sibilant alternation seen elsewhere). 吏 also leaks meaning: it pictures an official scribe and shares roots with 事 affair and 史 history. A person plus an official equals an envoy sent on duty — 使.