～かというと ② (JLPT N3)

About ～かというと ②

～かというと is a phrase that has two primary functions. The first is used in conjunction with 'why' and 'how' words, while the other is used with 'who', 'when', 'where', 'which' or 'what'. We will focus on the latter in this lesson. かというと is a combination of the case marking particle か in its use as a question marker, the case marking particle と in its citation use, the う - Verb 言(い)う 'to say', and the case marking particle と in its result use.

This is quite a few particles combined together, but the literal meaning is more simply 'if (A) were to be asked', before the speaker will go on to highlight their reasoning in (B). 何(なん)で, 何(なに), どちら, 誰(だれ), どの, and similar words often appear as the 'who', 'where', or 'which' words in these sentences.

As ～かというと will come before some sort of explanation, から will also regularly be used at the end of the sentence as 'because', emphasizing the speaker's reasoning.

Caution

Like other grammar points that utilize the 'if' nuance of と, ば, and sometimes even たら may be used. However, たら will appear far less frequently than と or ば.

何(なん)でこんな事(こと)になったかといえば、私(わたし)がきちんと確認(かくにん)をしなかったからです。

If I were to say why something like this happened, well, it is because I did not check properly.
誰(だれ)が一番(いちばん)上手(じょうず)かといったらB組(ぐみ)のタカハシさんです。

If I were to say who was the best, it would be Takahashi-san from class B.

Examples

--:--

一方(いっぽう)、自分(じぶん)にとってどちらかというと丈夫(じょうぶ)な車(くるま)のほうが優(すぐ)れていると思(おも)う。

On the other hand, if you ask me, I think that sturdy cars are superior.

イオさん：「どっちのほうがいいの？」
ツミキさん：「どどどっちかっていうと、こっちのほう...」

Io: 'Which do you like more?'
Tsumiki: 'If, if, if I were to say, I like this more...'

オティス：「人生(じんせい)で最(もっと)も大切(たいせつ)にしているのは何(なに)かというと、それは人(ひと)でしょう。私(わたし)が一人(ひとり)ぼっちだった時(とき)助(たす)けてくれた人(ひと)たちのことです。」

Otis: "If I were to say what do I value in life the most, that would be: people. (Specifically) the people who helped me when I was all alone."

イチカさん：「ミクちゃんは好(す)きな人(ひと)がいるみたいに見(み)えるよ。」
イツキさん：「誰(だれ)が好(す)きかっていうときっとフウタロウくんでしょう。」

Ichika: 'It looks like Miku has a crush on someone.'
Itsuki: 'If I were to say on who, then it would be Futaro.'

ヨツバさん：「その犬(いぬ)はどのくらい大(おお)きいの？」
フウカさん：「どのくらい大(おお)きいかというと....えーと....こんなに大(おお)きいくらいでしょう。」

Yotsuba: 'How big was that dog?'
Fuuka: 'If you ask me how big, hmmm, I think about this big?'

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～かというと ② – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

Pushindawood
if you ask me…
if I had to say
if I were to say
if I were to choose one
I’d rather
Structure
- Question Word + ん/の + かというと / かといえば
- Question Word + Phrase + ん/の + かというと / かといえば
[Used to create a dramatic effect by forcing the listener to wait for a response]
[Also often used when the speaker wants more time to think about the answer]

View on Bunpro
s1212z
Just came across the adventures of ブンポウちゃん and ユーザくん, this is quite the soap opera
wrt7MameLZE33wlmpCAV
Can anyone help me understand the function of の・ん in this grammar point? The structure legend indicates that の・ん is part of the grammar, but only one of the examples uses it:

どんな人なのかというと一見怖そうなのに実は天使のように優しい人です

If I were to say what kind of person he is, it would be a person that looks scary at first glance, but in reality, is as kind as an angel.

Do we need to use なの here instead of だ? Is the difference between 人なのかというと and 人かというと that the first one says “he is?” And if that’s the case, does this use of の actually fit the grammar point?

Thanks in advance.
mrnoone
Hey @wrt7MameLZE33wlmpCAV

It is optional and adds the nuance of explanatory tone and could be simply replaced with:
どんな人かというと一見怖そうなのに実は天使のように優しい人です without change of meaning.

だ cannot be really used instead of なの, because か cannot follow the だ. However It can follow the の, Noun + だった or simply the Noun directly.

I have fixed the structure and sorry for the inconvenience,
Cheers
wrt7MameLZE33wlmpCAV
Ah, gotcha. の having an explanatory nuance makes sense. Thanks for the clarification!

Also, thanks for confirming that だ cannot precede か here. I had a feeling that was the case, but it was really difficult to find the magic search criteria, so I wasn’t sure.
Bellonz
So I must be missing something, but I just had this pop up in the reviews and got it wrong because I wrote かというと and not かっていうと. I didn’t see the second form mentioned anywhere in the explanation.
EdBunpro
Do you remember what the sentence in question was? Will help to hone in on what could potentially be the problem.
Bellonz
ニノさん：用事があるわけではないけど、どちら(かっていうと) 家でゆっくりしたい。

I’m guessing maybe it’s just that it is the casual って for と、but it seemed strange that it just marks it wrong instead of asking for a more casual link?
Fuga
Hey there! It seems like というと has been added to the list of accepted answers! Thank you for letting us know about this error and we apologize for the inconvenience!