～かわりに— Instead Of / In Exchange

• 父のかわりに私が会議に出た。

  Chichi no kawari ni watashi ga kaigi ni deta.

  I attended the meeting instead of my father.

  Noun 父 + の + かわりに = substitution, 'in place of father'

• この仕事は大変なかわりに、給料が高い。

  Kono shigoto wa taihen na kawari ni, kyuuryou ga takai.

  This job is tough, but in exchange the pay is high.

  な-adjective 大変な + かわりに = trade-off/compensation

• 手伝ってあげるかわりに、昼ごはんをおごってね。

  Tetsudatte ageru kawari ni, hirugohan o ogotte ne.

  I'll help you, but in exchange treat me to lunch.

  Verb 手伝ってあげる + かわりに = one action exchanged for another

• ・Two senses: substitution ('instead of') and compensation ('in exchange for').
• ・Noun connects with の; な-adjectives with な; verbs/い-adjectives in plain form.
• ・The trade-off sense often balances a drawback with an upside.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ～かわりに is tested against.

• ～一方だ — Heading Ever Further In One Direction
• ～がちだ — Prone To It
• ～からいうと／からいえば — Speaking In Terms Of
• ～からして — Even Just From
• ～きり — Only / And Never Since
• だらけ — Covered All Over
• っけ — What Was It Again?
• ～っぱなし — Left As It Is