にしたら

JLPT N2approx.Neutral
Meaning

From the standpoint of (someone). The speaker considers how a particular person or group feels or sees things, usually another party but sometimes the speaker (私にしたら). It is often paired with a guess such as だろう or に違いない, though plain statements are also natural.

Examples
1
親おやにしたら、子供こどもの将来しょうらいが心配しんぱいでならないのだろう。
From the parents' point of view, they probably can't help worrying about their child's future.
2
For international students, Japanese honorific language must feel very difficult.
Formation
Noun+にしたらmainly with nouns denoting people or organizations
Similar formsNoun+にすれば/にしてみれば/にしてみたら
Usage

Common in both speech and writing. It typically puts oneself in another's position, though the speaker can also state their own view with 私にしたら. When describing others, it frequently ends with an inference such as だろう or に違いない, as in both examples, but plain statements like 親にしたら大問題だ are also natural. Unlike にとって, which gives a neutral evaluation ("important for X"), にしたら emphasizes X's own feelings or perception.

Watch out

Do not attach にしたら to verbs or adjectives; in this meaning it follows a noun, typically one referring to people.

Learners may confuse it with literal にする + たら, as in コーヒーにしたら ("if you choose coffee"), which is a different construction.

Note that it rarely takes non-human nouns; to say what matters for something like 健康, use にとって instead.

Easily confused with
  • 1.
    からすると / からすればN2When からすると expresses a standpoint, it is often interchangeable with にしたら; however, it can also draw inferences based on non-human nouns such as 発言 or 状況, a usage にしたら does not have.
  • 2.
    にとってN3にとって focuses on the meaning or value something has for a subject, and what follows is often an evaluation like 大切だ or 難しい; にしたら emphasizes the person's subjective feelings and thoughts, often paired with the conjecture だろう. When the following clause is an evaluation, the two are often interchangeable.
  • 3.
    から言うとN2から言うと generally does not attach directly to nouns for people; it attaches to nouns expressing a standpoint of judgment such as position, viewpoint, common sense, or experience, and what follows is a relatively objective evaluation or conclusion; にしたら attaches directly to a person and infers their subjective feelings.
  • 4.
    にしてもN2にしても expresses concession ('even if...') or parallelism ('whether A or B') and can attach to nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.; にしたら means 'from someone's standpoint/in someone's view' and mainly attaches to nouns for people or organizations. The meanings differ, so they cannot be interchanged.
  • 5.
    としたら / とすればN3としたら/とすれば expresses a supposition 'if...' and attaches to the plain form of verbs and adjectives, or to a noun/な-adjective stem + だ; にしたら attaches directly to nouns for people or organizations and means 'in the view of...', so the two cannot be interchanged.
  • 6.
    手前N2手前 attaches to nouns with の (e.g., 部下の手前) and expresses being unable to do something or having to do it out of consideration for how others will see you; it can also attach to verbs (usually the た form). にしたら is an empathetic inference of that person's feelings, so the two cannot be interchanged.

にしたら focuses on how a person feels, while からすると/からすれば and から言うと present a standpoint or basis for a judgment, and にとって gives a neutral "for X" evaluation. にしても is concessive ("even for X"), としたら/とすれば sets up a hypothesis ("if"), and 手前 (e.g. 約束した手前, "having promised") expresses obligation or concern for face arising from one's position or a prior commitment.

Grammar · JLPT grammar levels are community estimates, not official (no official lists have been published since the 2010 revision).

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