Arguing with balance in Japanese: 一方で and それに対して

Level B2

Arguing with balance in Japanese: 一方で and それに対して

By the end of this lesson you can compare two proposals and take a side without hiding the weak points of your own. The central idea is this: 一方で (ippō de) shows another side of what you just said, それに対して (sore ni taishite) sets a second option against the first on the same point, a figure gives your claim its evidence, ですから (desu kara) draws the consequence, and ても (te mo) lets you accept a limit and still choose. What counts here is how the ideas connect, not how many formal expressions you know.

Warm-up: comparing, giving an opinion, conceding

These pieces come back in this lesson, even if this is the first time you see them. 図書館はカフェより静かだと思います (toshokan wa kafe yori shizuka da to omoimasu), “I think the library is quieter than a café”, compares with より (yori) and gives an opinion with と思います (to omoimasu). 私は図書館のほうがいいと思います。なぜなら、静かだからです adds a reason: のほうが (no hō ga) marks the better of two options, and なぜなら (naze nara) … からです (kara desu) frames the reason. それに (sore ni), “besides”, adds one more point. 明日雨が降っても、海に行きます (ashita ame ga futte mo, umi ni ikimasu), “Even if it rains tomorrow, I'll go to the beach”, shows ても: the first part does not change the second.

Three linking words and five for the trip

一方で (ippō de) opens a sentence with another side of what you said. それに対して (sore ni taishite) opens a sentence that sets something against it. ですから (desu kara) opens a sentence with what follows from it; among friends you will hear だから (dakara) in its place. The other five words are for the trip you will discuss: 案 (an) is a proposal, かかる (kakaru) means that something takes time or money, 疲れる (tsukareru) is “to get tired”, 運転する (unten suru) is “to drive” and 半分 (hanbun) is “half”. A figure goes straight before かかる, with no particle: 四時間かかります (yojikan kakarimasu), “it takes four hours”.

Model: by train or by car?

Listen once without reading. Four colleagues are going to the beach, and at a short meeting two of them compare the proposals politely. 海には (umi ni wa) means “as for going to the beach”. 電車で行く案 (densha de iku an) shows how Japanese describes a noun: the plain verb and its words come before it, so this is “the proposal of going by train”. 運転する人 (unten suru hito), “the person who drives”, works the same way. 電車 (densha) is “train”, 車 (kuruma) “car”, 二時間 (nijikan) “two hours” and 四時間 “four hours”. 一人五千円 (hitori gosen en) is “five thousand yen per person”, and 四人で一万円 (yonin de ichiman en) is “ten thousand yen for the four of us”. 分かりました (wakarimashita) here means “all right”. Each speaker grants something to the other side before the group decides.

Another side: 一方で

Say one thing, then open a new sentence with 一方で and show another side of it. In these examples the first sentence is a strength and the second a limit: the train is fast, but it costs money. 一方で does not cancel the first sentence. Both stay true and the listener can weigh them, which is what makes an argument sound balanced. When the topic stays the same, you can leave it out, as in カフェは便利です。一方で、うるさいです. Words in the examples: 速い (hayai, fast), 安い (yasui, cheap), 便利 (benri, convenient), うるさい (urusai, noisy), 静か (shizuka, quiet) and 飲めません (nomemasen, can't drink).

電車は速いです／カフェは便利です。一方で、一人五千円かかります／うるさいです

Two options, one point: それに対して

それ (sore) points back to what you just said, and に対して (ni taishite) means “set against”. Use it to compare two things on the same point: journey time with journey time, price with price. The subject changes, and each side usually takes は (wa), as in 電車は… 車は…, because は helps to show the contrast. The comparison only works if both sides give the same kind of fact: the examples set 四人で二万円 (yonin de niman en, twenty thousand yen for four) against 四人で一万円, not a price per person against a total. 電車では (densha de wa) is “on the train”, and 一人が運転します (hitori ga unten shimasu) is “one person drives”. みんな (minna) is “everyone”.

電車は二時間です／図書館は静かです。それに対して、車は四時間かかります／カフェはうるさいです

Which linking word fits?

The first two lines say the same thing: when two things differ on one point, 一方で and それに対して both fit, and それに対して makes the opposition sharper. The third line shows the difference. It talks about one thing, the train, and moves from speed to price, so 一方で is the word to use; それに対して would sound odd, because no second thing is compared on the same point. Do not confuse それに対して with それに: they start alike, but それに adds a point that pulls the same way, as in the fourth line. English “on the other hand” often does the work of both, so ask yourself first: am I showing another side of one thing, or setting a second thing against it? 高い (takai) is “expensive”.

一方で and それに対して suit a discussion, a presentation or a written text. Among friends you will hear something like the last line, with けど (kedo, but) and よ (yo); here it is enough to recognize it.

Evidence and what follows: ですから

A claim gets stronger with a fact behind it, and the simplest evidence is a figure: two hours, five thousand yen. Give the fact, then open a new sentence with ですから and say what it means for the people involved. 着きます (tsukimasu) is “arrive”, 早く (hayaku) “early”, and 電車の半分 (densha no hanbun) “half of the train's price”.

You already know …ですから、… inside one sentence: 静かですから、ここで勉強します (shizuka desu kara, koko de benkyō shimasu), “it's quiet, so I study here”. The order here is the same, fact first and result after, except that the fact ends with a full stop and ですから opens the next sentence. Watch the direction, as both words contain から. ですから comes before the result: the car takes four hours, so the driver gets tired. からです closes the reason, as the last example shows: the driver gets tired, and the reason comes after, with the plain form かかる before から.

車は四時間かかります／電車は二時間です。ですから、運転する人は疲れます／海に早く着きます

Taking a side with ても

A balanced argument still ends somewhere. Name the limit you accept with ても, then give your choice with のほうがいいと思います. かかる becomes かかって, and いる (iru, to be there) becomes いて, before も. In these sentences the limit is often already known: you are not wondering whether the train costs five thousand yen, you accept that it does and your choice stands. のに (no ni) does not fit here, because what follows it is a surprising fact, not your opinion. You can then add the reason with なぜなら…からです, as in the last example, where 休める (yasumeru) means “can rest”.

五千円かかって／四時間かかって／人がたくさんいても、電車／車／カフェのほうがいいと思います

Your turn and summary

Cover the answers. Listen to the first question and defend the train in four moves: a contrast with それに対して, a consequence with ですから, a limit with 一方で and your choice with ても. Then compare. Do the same with the second question, now arguing for the café: the order turns round, with 一方で bringing its strength and ても the limit you accept. In that answer, 図書館のほうが勉強できます (toshokan no hō ga benkyō dekimasu) means “you can study better at the library” and カフェはコーヒーがおいしいです means “cafés have good coffee”. Then try the opposite side of each: the car, or the library.

In short: 一方で shows another side, それに対して compares two things on one point, ですから gives what follows from your evidence, and ても accepts a limit before you choose.

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