くせに (JLPT N3)

À propos de くせに

癖(くせ) is a noun that means 'habit' or 'tendency'. However, as it usually refers to a negative thing, 'vice' is another accurate translation. くせに (usually appearing without kanji) is the combination of くせ, and the case marking particle に. This structure is often used to criticize the actions of others, and is used in a similar way to 'despite', 'even though', or 'and yet' in English.

As くせ is a noun, くせに may be used after the attributive form of any other word.

Fun Fact

癖(くせ) is a word that has developed a 'negative' meaning over time. Originally, 癖(くせ) was used to convey a preference, or the side that someone or something tended to lean toward (due to it being favorable for some reason). When adding the case marking particle に to this, it merely expressed that (A) was the preferable state/location, so (B) not being/not acting in a way appropriate for (A) is less than desirable.

Exemples

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食(た)べきれない癖(くせ)にたくさん注文(ちゅうもん)するのはやめてほしい。

Even though you cannot eat it all, you order a lot. I want you to stop (doing that). (despite)

昨日(きのう)休(やす)んだ癖(くせ)に、なんで知(し)ったかぶりするの？

Why do you pretend to know (what we are talking about) despite having the day off yesterday?

あの人(ひと)は先輩(せんぱい)の癖(くせ)に、いつも僕(ぼく)におごらせようとする。

Despite being my senior, he/she always tries to make me pay.

寒(さむ)い癖(くせ)に「寒(さむ)くない」とやせ我慢(がまん)するのはやめてください。

Please stop pretending like you're not cold even though you are. (despite)

給料(きゅうりょう)を沢山(たくさん)もらっている癖(くせ)に、貯金(ちょきん)がないらしい。

Despite getting paid a lot, I have heard that he has no savings.

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くせに – Discussion Grammaire

Réponses les plus récentes (5 au total)

_max
Thank you for the answer!
But really still pretty confused.
癖に is kind of the same as のに, but with criticism.
So it’s like “despite”, “even though”, etc.
But in the example sentence we want to say “because”, not “even though”.
“Because you are a man, don’t cry”, not “Even though you are a man, don’t cry”, correct?
That’s why for me 癖に sounds strange in this sentence.
Scyamntic
I think the fun fact for the gramar point helps to elucidate here:

癖() is a word that has developed a ‘negative’ meaning over time. Originally, 癖() was used to convey a preference, or the side that someone or something tended to lean toward (due to it being favorable for some reason). When adding the case marking particle に to this, it merely expressed that (A) was the preferable state/location, so (B) not being/not acting in a way appropriate for (A) is less than desirable.

So 男のくせに泣くな

Can be thought of as:
- “From the standpoint of being a man, not crying is prefereable”
Or taking the more “habit” oriented meaning
- “A habit of men is not crying”
Definitely a weird coming from English, but the key take away to add to the primary meaning of “despite” in my opinion is this feeling of “(B) not being preferable”
_max
Wow, it really works! Thank you, didn’t pay much attention to the “Fun Fact” section.
Now, it kind of makes sense.