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JLPT N3Comparison

わりに(は)— Considering That

Introduces a result that is surprising or disproportionate given the preceding condition — 'considering...', 'for...', or 'despite...'. It highlights a gap between what you'd expect from the situation and what is actually true, often in a positive or unexpected way.

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Pro lessonUNIT 102 · COMPARISON

Structure · 形

[Verb / い-adj plain form] + わりに(は) ／ [な-adj な / Noun の] + わりに(は)

Examples · 例文

  • この店は値段が高いわりに、料理がおいしくない。

    Kono mise wa nedan ga takai wari ni, ryouri ga oishikunai.

    For how expensive it is, this restaurant's food isn't good.

    高い + わりに contrasts the high price with disappointing quality.

  • 彼は年齢のわりには若く見える。

    Kare wa nenrei no wari ni wa wakaku mieru.

    He looks young for his age.

    Noun 年齢 + の + わりには marks the gap between age and appearance.

  • あまり勉強しなかったわりには、いい点が取れた。

    Amari benkyou shinakatta wari ni wa, ii ten ga toreta.

    Considering I didn't study much, I got a good score.

    しなかった + わりには shows the result exceeded expectations.

Usage notes · 注意

  • Highlights a mismatch between expectation and reality; the result can be better or worse than expected.
  • Noun connects with の; な-adjectives with な.
  • Register: neutral, very common in conversation.

Commonly confused with

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

vsのに

のに expresses simple contradiction/complaint ('even though'), while わりに(は) specifically measures a result against a proportional expectation.

vsにしては

にしては judges against a set standard/label, whereas わりに(は) can compare against a scalable degree (price, effort, age).

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