からして - Grammar Discussion

judging from
based on

Structure

  • Noun + からして

View on Bunpro

Not sure if I’m entirely right or not, but からして seems to be used when making a judgment vs をもとに which seems to be more used towards making a conclusion.

If there is a bigger or different difference between them what is it? And don’t you think you should keep this cue in brackets [] as judging from rather than based on so as to not mix them up? Or are they interchangeable?

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bump.

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I think you have smushed two distinct grammar points together:

A Handbook of Japanese Grammar Patterns for Teachers and Learners also separates them into a ‘example’ and a ‘basis’ entry. I think it would be good to do the same on Bunpro. From the example sentences on Bunpro I get the impression that the Bunpro entry for 〜からして only covers the ‘basis’ use, not so much the ‘example’ use, while it is the latter that is featured in SKM N2. There is currently no way to revise similar example sentences to the ones in SKM (that is: sentences where a negative judgment is based based on the most basic, most visible aspect of something). For example:

あのレストランは、食器の色からしてわたしは好きになれなかった。

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Interesting insight @Melanthe ! As we’re going through doing all the proper explanations for N2 grammar, we’re using a variety of different resources. Of these, 絵でわかる日本語 is one if them, as we tend to favor sources written by native speakers.

Whether we split something into 2 or more separate grammar points depends mostly on whether the majority of other resources do the same, and if we ourselves can find some commonality between all meanings that warrant making just one grammar point, and pointing out the difference there. This is, as you might imagine, tough at times.

The primary resource we use (for higher levels) is くらべてわかる日本語表現文型辞典 (available on Amazon as an eBook, or paperback), which lists からして as a single grammar point with a few slightly different nuances. We have not decided what to do with this grammar construction as of now, but when we get to it, I will absolutely take your feedback into consideration when making example sentences and deciding whether or not we split the point, or add in extra examples with the alternative meaning.

Edit - I am actually a super huge fan of 絵でわかる日本語, as their examples are great, and they have a strong focus on splitting grammar structures into ‘one meaning’, rather than ‘one structure’. I, and the rest of the content team, will do our best to find the perfect medium :blush:.

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Thanks! It’s definitely tricky, because I imagine there is a risk that too many of ‘the same entries’ will clog up the search results and make it harder to find what you’re looking for. But when you don’t separate them, you run the risk of adding lots of example sentences for the one usage and hardly any for the second. I’m seeing the same with the entry for 〜を通じて (which 絵でわかる, SKM and that grammar pattern handbook all split into two discrete grammar points): lots of example sentences for the ‘proxy’ usage, but only one for the ‘time span’ usage.

I’d personally have a preference for splitting them out (like you’ve already done for grammar points like らしい and 一応), because it makes it very clear that they can be (and often are) conceived of as separate usages with (often) separate 使い方 and different JLPT levels. I’ve found it a bit tricky when using third party sources and they make a point about differentiating between the two and how to tell the difference, and then I can’t add them as two separate grammar points on Bunpro and practise various example sentences for each variation.

If for some reason you think it’s for the better not to split these grammar points, at the very least I think it would be very important to make an explicit mention of the fact that many other sources do see them as two discrete grammar points and to make sure there is a 50/50 split in the example sentences, so that both usages are represented and can be practised with.

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