JLPT N2 Grammar: からといって

Japanese grammar is hard, but if you can get though this lesson there is a reward waiting for you at the bottom.

No! Don't just scroll down! Try to learn something first, sheesh!

からといって is a grammar point that expresses “just because...doesn't necessarily mean.” It takes something expected and makes it unexpected. It takes a normal concept and gives you the opposite of what you think about that concept. Let’s look at it in English first:

“Just because I studied for 5 hours for the exam doesn’t mean I passed it.”

If you look at this sentence, the first part (studying for 5 hours) implies an expectation (passing the exam), and the second part breaks it (didn’t pass the exam). からといって uses this same principle. It is a really useful grammar point that can be used to show the opposite of what people think.

Here are some ways you might see it:

Vplain/past + からといって
勉強したからといって…
べんきょうした　からといって…
Just because I studied…

Adj + からといって
遠いからといって…
とおい　からといって…
Just because it's far...

N + だ + からといって...
犬だからといって...
いぬ　だ　からといって
Just because it's a dog…

からといって　 often uses the negative endings とは限らない(とはかぎらない) “not necessarily so,” or わけではない “doesn’t mean that.” These imply that something is different from the norm.

ヨーグルトは体にいいからといって、そればかり食べるのはよくないよ。
ヨーグルト　は　からだ　に　いい　からといって、　それ　ばかり　たべる　の　は　よくない　よ。
Just because yogurt is good for you, doesn’t mean you should eat it all the time.
Literally: “yogurt + は + body + に + good + just because + that + only + eat + の + は + not good + よ”

寒い国に生まれたからといって、寒さに強いわけではない。
さむい　くに　に　うまれた　からといって、　さむさ　に　つよい　わけではない。
Just because I was born in a cold country, doesn’t mean that I am tolerant to the cold.
Literally: “cold + country + に + born + just because + coldness + に + strong + doesn’t mean that”

安いからといって、必ずしも品質が悪いとは限らない。
やすい　からといって、　かならずしも　ひんしつ　が　わるい　と　は　かぎらない。
Just because it’s cheap, doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality is bad.
Literally: “cheap + just because + necessarily + quality + が + bad + is not always true (=とは + not limited)”

In the last two example sentences below, からといって is shortened to からって to make it more colloquial.

いくら眠いからって、食事中に寝るのは失礼だよ。
いくら　ねむい　からって、　しょくじちゅう　に　ねる　の　は　しつれい　だ　よ。
It doesn’t matter how tired you are, it’s rude to fall asleep in the middle of a meal.
Literally: “how + tired + just because + middle of a meal + に + sleep + の + は + rude + だ + よ”

よくしつけられた熊だからって、人間を絶対に襲わないとは言い切れないよ。
よく　しつけられた　くま　だ　からって、　にんげん　を　ぜったい　に　おそわない　と は　いいきれない　よ。
Just because that bear is well trained, doesn’t mean you can say for certain it won’t attack humans.
Literally: “well + trained + bear + だ + just because + human + を + absolutely + に + won’t attack + と + は + can’t say + よ”

Did you get this one? I think it's pretty simple. Do you think you can make up a few sentences with からといって?

You did it!

Here is a reward:

It's a picture of my dog! Isn't he the cutest? I am thinking of including one of these on every grammar lesson for motivation for you guys; you deserve it! <3

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This lesson was written by Cassy L., a guest contributor: