How to Express Various Targets: に対して, について, and にかかわる

You have entered a new section named “Compound Particles.” In Japanese grammar, particles determine the role of nouns, e.g. the topic particle は and the parallel marker と. However, there are some words which can substitute for particles, which we call “Compound Particles.” They basically consist of a particle and the te-form of a verb (with some exceptions). Their main role is to express more detailed nuances and a higher level of formality than particles do. Therefore, it is important to master them if you aim to acquire advanced Japanese skills.

Compound Particle Counterparts to the Particle に

Up until now, you have expressed targets using the particle に. The expressions we will pick up here are the compound particle counterparts to the particle に. Some of them are interchangeable, but compound particles basically express more detailed nuances with higher formality.

に対たいして: Targets of Non-physical Actions, Emotions, and Attitudes

The function of に対して is to express targets of non-physical actions, emotions, and attitudes. In general, you can replace に対して with the particle に. The main role is to increase formality and to clarify meanings since the several functions of the particle に sometimes make sentences ambiguous.

In passive sentences, the particle に makes ambiguous sentences. The particle に can indicate doers and targets while に対して indicates only targets. Thus, when it comes to passive sentences, it’s better to use に対して to clarify targets.

As you learned, the particle を (Direct Object) and the particle に (Target) are sometimes confusing. Be careful; you cannot replace the particle を with 対して, too.

Here is one of the places where learners often make a mistake. When the particle に indicates physical contact, you cannot replace the particle に with に対して.

について, に関かんして, and をめぐって: Targets of Thoughts or Speech

The function is to express targets of thoughts and speech. You may consider について as the counterpart to “about” in English. に関して is more formal than について like “regarding.” However, you cannot use に関して with verbs related to thoughts, e.g. 思う and 考える (*Look at the third example).

をめぐって indicates conflicts between two parties. The difference between をめぐって and について/に関して is that をめぐって allows you to use words which are not directly involved with thoughts and speech, e.g. “争あらそう: to fight” and “対立たいりつする: to conflict.” When you use words which indicate both conflicts and speech or thoughts, e.g. “議ぎ論ろんする: to discuss,” をめぐって, について, and に関して are interchangeable.

You can set the target part as a topic by combining について and に関してwith the topic particle は, which is not applicable for をめぐって.

にかかわる: Targets of Relation

This is a different usage from what you have learned so far. The usage of compound particles can be divided into two groups. The first is to work just like particles, e.g. に対して and について. The second is to work as relative clauses. にかかわる is the later one. In this context, modified nouns can include adjectives. The function of にかかわる is to indicate targets of relations which can roughly be translated as “to do with,” “to be related with,”  “to affect,” and “to involve.”

Using に対たいして and をめぐって for Relative Clauses

The origin of 対して and めぐって come from the verbs: 対する and めぐる. However, these verb forms are generally not used as normal verbs, but rather to modify nouns in the same way that  にかかわる does. Some compound particles can work like both particles and relative clauses.

You can also modify nouns by using the particle の. The meaning will remain the same. This usage is applicable for 対して, について, に関して, and をめぐって. Note: the variety of the usage of compound particles must be confusing. Thus, we have made a table showing all of the usages. If necessary, please refer to it at this link.

Summary

1. Compound particles have two usages like particles and relative clauses.
2. に対して expresses targets of non-physical actions, emotions, and attitudes.
3. について and に関して express targets of thoughts and speech like “about.”
4. をめぐって expresses conflicts between two parties.
5. にかかわる expresses targets of relations.

Regarding the advanced grammar, you should learn it based on a solid knowledge of basic Japanese grammar. When it comes to compound particles, you have to understand how particles and relative clauses work. For example, if you look up the word: に対して in a dictionary, you will find that “toward” and “against” are given as definitions. As you may have noticed, languages are not simple enough to just translate individual words. In order to properly understand the concept of Japanese grammar, please clear up any doubts you may have regarding basic grammar. Next, you will learn compound particles which are related to the particle で.