～くせに— And Yet You Dare

• 知っているくせに、教えてくれない。

  Shitte iru kuse ni, oshiete kurenai.

  Even though he knows, he won't tell me.

  知っている (plain) + くせに adds a reproachful 'and yet'

• 子供のくせに生意気だ。

  Kodomo no kuse ni namaiki da.

  He's cheeky for a mere kid.

  子供 (noun) + の + くせに = 'despite being only a child'

• 下手なくせに、いつも自慢する。

  Heta na kuse ni, itsumo jiman suru.

  He's bad at it, and yet he always brags.

  下手 (な-adj) + な + くせに carries a scornful nuance

• ・Always emotional/critical — never neutral. Avoid in polite or formal contexts.
• ・The subject of both clauses must be the same person.
• ・Can be left dangling as ～くせに。 to imply blame without finishing the thought.

Commonly confused with

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

• ～一方(で) — On One Hand, On the Other
• ～上(に) — On Top of That
• だけでなく — Not Only That
• ついでに — While You're At It
• ～つつ(も) — While Yet Doing Otherwise
• ～というと／～といえば — Speaking Of That
• ～といっても — Even Though I Say
• ～とともに — Along With, As