かわりに Japanese Grammar Lesson- Wild Nihongo!

かわりに Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Phrase

Essential Meaning: In place of / Instead of / To make up for

Construction:

Noun + の代かわりに
- E.g. 先生せんせいの代かわりに [In place of the teacher]

(Verb / い-Adjective) informal + 代かわりに
- E.g. 話はなす代かわりに [Instead of speaking]
- E.g. 食たべる代かわりに [Instead of eating]
- E.g. 高たかい代かわりに [Instead of being expensive]

な-Adjective Stem + [な / だった] + 代かわりに
- E.g. 静しずかな代かわりに [Instead of being quiet]

Notes:

かわりに (代かわりに in kanji) basically means “In place of“, “Instead of“, or “To make up for“. Its usage depends on what part of speech precedes 代かわりに.

The structure Noun 1 の代かわりに Noun 2 means “Noun 2 in place of / instead of Noun 1“. In other words, Noun 2 serves as a substitute for Noun 1 or takes Noun 1’s place. These nouns can be people or objects.
- E.g. ビールの代かわりに酒さけを買かいました。[Instead of beer, I bought sake.]
- E.g. 私わたしの代かわりに父ちちが行いってもいいですか。 [Is it OK if my father goes in my place?]

The structure Sentence 1 代かわりに Sentence 2, means “Sentence 2 to make up for / to compensate for Sentence 1“. In other words, the action or state in Sentence 2 is performed in order to make up for some action or state in Sentence 1.
- E.g. 土曜日どようびに仕事しごとをする代かわりに月曜日げつようびは休やすむ。[To compensate for the fact that Saturday is a work day, I have Monday off.]
- E.g. 手伝てつだってあげる代かわりに飲のませてください。[To compensate me for helping you, why don’t you buy me a drink?]
- E.g. 僕ぼくのアパートは不便ふべんな代かわりに家賃やちんが安やすい。[My apartment rent is cheap to compensate for the inconvenience.]

In certain situations, Sentence 1 代かわりに Sentence 2 is interchangeable with the conjunctions けれども or しかし to convey the same basic idea. However, けれども and しかし can only be replaced by 代かわりに when there is a compensatory aspect to the sentences.
- E.g. 私わたしは甘あまいものをたくさん食たべるかわりに歯はを良よく磨みがく。[I brush my teeth well to compensate for the fact that I eat a lot of sweets.]
- E.g. 私わたしは甘あまいものをたくさん食たべるけれども、歯はを良よく磨みがく。[Although I eat a lot of sweets, I brush my teeth well.] In this case, けれども replaces 代かわりに and the sentence still conveys the same basic compensatory meaning.
- E.g. 私わたしは甘あまいものをたくさん食たべる。しかし歯はを良よく磨みがく。[I eat a lot of sweets. However, I brush my teeth well.] In this case, しかし replaces 代かわりに and the sentence still conveys the same basic compensatory meaning.
- *私わたしは甘あまいものをたくさん食たべる代かわりに歯はは強つよい。[To compensate for the fact that I eat a lot of sweets, my teeth are strong.] This sentence doesn’t make sense because the situation in Sentence 2 (i.e. “My teeth are strong“) is not brought about to compensate for the situation in Sentence 1 (i.e. “I eat a lot of sweets“). Instead, Sentence 1 is a pre-existing natural state and does not have a compensatory aspect. Therefore, 代かわりに is inappropriate and should be replaced by しかし or けれども.

Example Sentences:

先生せんせいの代かわりに私わたしが教おしえた。[I taught in place of the teacher.]

土曜日どようびに仕事しごとをする代かわりに月曜日げつようびは休やすむ。[To compensate for the fact that Saturday is a work day, I have Monday off.]

今日きょうは夜よるおそくまで踊おどる代かわりに明日あしたは一日中いちにちじゅう勉強べんきょうします。[To compensate for the fact that I will be out late dancing tonight, I will study all day tomorrow.]

英語えいごを教おしえてあげた代かわりに日本語にほんごを教おしえてもらった。[To compensate me for teaching English, I was taught Japanese.]

その車くるまは安やすかった代かわりによく故障こしょうした。[In exchange for the fact that the car was cheap, it broke down often.]

WILD Examples:

Listen for this line at 2:07: さようならの代かわりにするよ、みんなありがとう [Instead of saying goodbye, we’re doing this. Thank you everyone!]

Listen to this line from 1:02: ケーキの代かわりに君きみがこさえたおむすびの塩しおが胸むねにしみた [The salt from the rice balls that you made instead of cake permeated my chest]

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