<blockquote>
<p>催: to urge; to harry (<em>someone to do something</em>)</p>
<p>促使: to motivate; to cause; to prompt (<em>someone to do something or something to happen</em>)</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>'催' has to be with intention</strong>. e.g.  in &quot;我催他快點出門&quot; ( I urge/ hurry him to go out sooner). 'I' have the intention of 'urging him to go out sooner'</p>
<p><strong>'促使' has to be with a cause</strong>. e.g. in &quot;前蘇聯的威脅促使北約成立&quot; (The threat of the former Soviet Union prompted the establishment of NATO) '前蘇聯的威脅' is the cause of 'the establishment of NATO'</p>
<p>Note 1: '我' is the subject that applies the verb 'to hurry', it is not the cause of '他快點出門'. <em>the subject must have an intention to apply the verb 催</em></p>
<p>Note 2: there is no intention in '前蘇聯的威脅' to cause NATO to form.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-25T21:51:55.707Z
2018-12-25T22:14:02.767Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>促使: <em>make something happen</em>;</p>
<p>催（促）: <em>To urge sb.</em>;</p>
<p>The normal collocations would be <em>促使 + <strong>something</strong></em> and <em>催(促) + <strong>somebody(+something) or bare</strong></em>. Eg:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>别催我，好吗？</p>
<p>别催了，行吗？</p>
<p>他天天催我给他买飞机票。</p>
<p>深厚的友谊促使大家携手前进。</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-26T05:51:30.267Z
2018-12-26T05:51:30.267Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
dan
<p>So, the difference between these two. Am I right in believing that 催 is to encourage/urge a third party to do something <em>quicker/with more haste</em>, whereas 促使 is to encourage/urge someone to do something <em>at all</em>?
圣诞快乐!
Hashamyim / 罗云</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-25T19:53:09.997Z
促使 to cause someone to do something; 催 to cause someone to do something earlier or quickly
Farnz Seager
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-25T20:14:43.460Z
Wouldn't it be more appropriate to ask the difference between 催促 vs 促使?
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-25T20:21:54.650Z
I'm happy to ask that, but my vocab list only states 催 and not 催促. But anyway, what is the difference between 催促 and 促使? (I'm hoping that this is the setup for a really good joke :-))
Hashamyim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-25T22:17:31.563Z
see dictionaries, e.g.促使 https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E4%BF%83%E4%BD%BF (users may conclude that
no human actors need be explicitly involved)
催 https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E5%82%AC (En follows Ru )
user6065
<vocabulary>
催 vs 促使 - cui vs cushi
# 催 vs 促使 - cui vs cushi

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-25)

So, the difference between these two. Am I right in believing that 催 is to encourage/urge a third party to do something *quicker/with more haste*, whereas 促使 is to encourage/urge someone to do something *at all*?
圣诞快乐!
username_0 / 罗云

**Tags:** vocabulary

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 促使 to cause someone to do something; 催 to cause someone to do something earlier or quickly  
> **username_2**: Wouldn't it be more appropriate to ask the difference between 催促 vs 促使?  
> **username_0**: I'm happy to ask that, but my vocab list only states 催 and not 催促. But anyway, what is the difference between 催促 and 促使? (I'm hoping that this is the setup for a really good joke :-))  
> **username_3**: see dictionaries, e.g.促使 https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E4%BF%83%E4%BD%BF (users may conclude that no human actors need be explicitly involved) 催 https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E5%82%AC (En follows Ru )  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-12-25. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

> 催: to urge; to harry (*someone to do something*)
>
> 促使: to motivate; to cause; to prompt (*someone to do something or something to happen*)

**'催' has to be with intention**. e.g. in "我催他快點出門" ( I urge/ hurry him to go out sooner). 'I' have the intention of 'urging him to go out sooner'

**'促使' has to be with a cause**. e.g. in "前蘇聯的威脅促使北約成立" (The threat of the former Soviet Union prompted the establishment of NATO) '前蘇聯的威脅' is the cause of 'the establishment of NATO'

Note 1: '我' is the subject that applies the verb 'to hurry', it is not the cause of '他快點出門'. *the subject must have an intention to apply the verb 催*

Note 2: there is no intention in '前蘇聯的威脅' to cause NATO to form.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2018-12-26. Score: 3

促使: *make something happen*;

催（促）: *To urge sb.*;

The normal collocations would be *促使 + **something*** and *催(促) + **somebody(+something) or bare***. Eg:

> 别催我，好吗？
>
> 别催了，行吗？
>
> 他天天催我给他买飞机票。
>
> 深厚的友谊促使大家携手前进。


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