Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 5: 12/21

から言(い)うと

Speaking in terms of, From the point of view of

The preceding noun cannot identify a person. However, Personの立場 + からいうと/からいって/からいえば are allowed.

Structure

Noun + から言(い)うと(1)

(1)から言(い)えば、 から言(い)って

Details

  • Register

    Standard

  • 使用域

    一般

About から言うと

からいうと (appearing with or without kanji) is a phrase in Japanese that is used to express a particular viewpoint or standpoint from which some type of evaluation, conclusion, or opinion can be drawn. The と that appears here is one of the assumption uses of this particle, meaning that から言(い)えば may also be used.
からいうと will always follow a noun (or noun phrase), before the (B) part of that same sentence will describe some kind of evaluation/opinion/etc. This structure closely reflects phrases like 'speaking in terms of (A), (B)', or 'what can be drawn from (A) is that (B)'.
  • 私(わたし)の経験(けいけん)から言(い)うと、このやり方(かた)が一番(いちばん)効率(こうりつ)がいい。
    Speaking from my experience, this way of doing it is the most efficient.
  • 私(わたし)の立場(たちば)から言(い)えば、彼(かれ)は絶対(ぜったい)いつか成功(せいこう)する。
    Speaking from my position, he will make it big one day.
Occasonally, the use of particles such as と or ば may be skipped entirely, with からと言(い)って being used instead.
  • この結果(けっか)から言(い)って、この計画(けいかく)はあまりよくありませんでした。
    Speaking from these results, this plan was not that great.
Caution
'Name + からいうと' may not be used with this expression, as a person is not a 'situation'. However, it is perfectly ok to use something like 'name の 立場(たちば)からいうと', as this highlights a specific situation that the said person is in.
  • タクミから言(い)うと、後輩(こうはい)のタケシ君(くん)は次(つぎ)の試合(しあい)で勝(か)てそうなの？ (Unnatural)
    Speaking as Takumi, do you think your kouhai, Takeshi-kun can win in the next competition?
  • タクミの立場(たちば)からいうと後輩(こうはい)のタケシ君(くん)は次(つぎ)の試合(しあい)で勝(か)てそうなの？ (Natural)
    Takumi, speaking from your position, do you think you kouhai, Takeshi-kun is going to win at the next competition?
  • サトミの視点(してん)からいうと、あの人(ひと)たちは採用(さいよう)しない方(ほう)がいいという事(こと)ですか？ (Natural)
    Satomi, from your point of view, are you saying that we should not recruit those people?
Caution
Due to からいうと regularly highlighting some sort of 'overall situation', it will not be used with momentary/visual things. In these cases, while not strictly incorrect, it may sound quite unnatural to a native speaker.
  • 家(いえ)のレイアウトから言(い)うと、この家(いえ)は30年前(ねんまえ)に立(た)てられた家(いえ)だと思(おも)う。 (Not incorrect, but a little unnatural)
    Speaking from the layout of this house, I think it was built 30 years ago.
A more appropriate choice here would be something like から見(み)ると, as this can be used to make purely visual assessments.

Examples

  • 私(わたし)の経験(けいけん)から言(い)うと、先生(せんせい)のおかげで卒業(そつぎょう)ができた。

    From the point of view of my experience, it was thanks to my teacher that I graduated.

  • 法律(ほうりつ)から言(い)うと、それは違反(いはん)です。

    Speaking in terms of the law, that is a crime.

  • 結論(けつろん)から言(い)うと、失敗(しっぱい)です。

    Speaking in terms of results, it is a failure.

  • 値段(ねだん)から言(い)うと、このコーヒーは高(たか)すぎるよ。

    Speaking in terms of price, this coffee is too expensive.

  • 物価(ぶっか)から言(い)うと、この地域(ちいき)は住(す)みやすいですね。

    Speaking in terms of prices in general, this region is easy to live in.

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から言うと – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (2 in total)

  • Munzu

    Munzu

    物価から言うと、この地域は住みやすいですね。

    Instead of から言うと, I filled in において but it got marked as wrong. As far as I understand, both would mean “in terms of” in this context. Why does において not work here?

  • Daru

    Daru

    While its true that both of these grammar points can mean ‘in terms of’, there’s a few differences between them. からいうと can be used to voice your opinion on a particular subject, whereas において just establishes that something is related.

    において while not being ‘stiff’ or academic grammar, it is more formal than からいうと and pretty much never used in spoken Japanese, so the tone wouldn’t match in the example sentence.

    Hope this helps!

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