きっかけ is a noun: the event that set something going, "what got it started". It is the first push, not a cause that keeps working. What it starts comes before it, a noun with or a verb in the plain form.
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What made me change jobs was my relationship with my boss.
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How did you and he start going out?
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What got you started in this job?
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A small thing can change your life completely.
がきっかけで and をきっかけに
After the event, がきっかけで suits something that happened to you, and をきっかけに suits a decision someone took on that occasion, or a change in society. A verb clause needs or first.
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I got into my current job through a friend's introduction.
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I gave up smoking when my child was born.
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Since the earthquake, interest in disaster preparedness has grown.
- × アニメを見たがきっかけで → アニメを見たのがきっかけで
きっかけ, 原因 and 理由
is the cause that explains a result, usually a problem: an accident, an illness, a failure.
is the reason someone gives. きっかけ is the occasion that started something, and that event can be good or bad – meeting a friend, falling ill, an earthquake.
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The accident was caused by speeding.
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Falling ill was what made me start looking after my health.
Usage notes
These go beyond naming what started something.
きっかけになる
With , the event becomes the subject: "X was what started it".
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Coming across that book was what made me want to be a writer.
A chance to start
With or , きっかけ is an opening you find or make, often to start talking to someone.
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I can't find a way to start a conversation with her.
Lingaku