を中心に・をちゅうしんに - Grammar Discussion

Grammar Points
#1

focused on
centered on/around
mainly
most notably

Structure

  • Noun + を中心に / を中心に して / を中心 として
  • Noun1 + を中心に した / を中心 とした + Noun2

[Aを中心に is used to express that A is a center of something in the physical or metaphorical sense]

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#2

What does that mean?

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#3

Matt on Game Gengo just posted a video on this grammar.

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#4

The current translation for

健康診断けんこうしんだんに行いったら先生せんせいに揚あげ物ものを中心ちゅうしんとする食生活しょくせいかつはやめるようにと言いわれた

is slightly incorrect and doesn’t help accurately interpret the difference in nuance that とする infers.

Currently, “to stop centering my diet around fried food,” implies a there’s a deliberate, active effort on the part of the speaker to prioritise fried food. However, を中心とする is used here because the sentence is describing a general characteristic of the diet (it naturally revolves around fried food), not an intentional action of making fried food the focus.

Therefore, a more accurate and helpful translation would be "When I went to my physical check-up, my doctor told me to stop having a diet that is centered on fried food."