日本語道場

Nihongo Dojo — N3 → N2

Grammar

N2· hand-written

~にしては

for a [noun] / considering it's a [noun]; despite being [noun]

When to use it

When making a qualified or surprising judgment about something, acknowledging a context before drawing a conclusion (e.g., "for a startup company, their revenue is impressive")

Formation

Verb: 品質に[する]ては → 品質にしては良い → Despite being mid-grade, it's good I-Adj: 新しいにしては → 新しいにしては高い → For something new, it's expensive Noun: 初心者にしては → 初心者にしては上手い → For a beginner, they're skilled

Examples

  • For a new employee, your sales figures are good. What's the secret?

  • Thank you. I'm trying to apply my previous experience. However, billing processing is new to me, so it's taking time.

  • True. But for a beginner, your work is thorough. If you can master billing by next month, it'll ease the whole team's burden.