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 仮定(かてい) ‘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.