催 vs 促使 - cui vs cushi

Question

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! Hashamyim / 罗云

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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。