Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 3: 17/22

について

Concerning, About, Regarding

Structure Legend

Structure

Noun + ついて
Noun + ついて + + Noun

Details

  • Register

    Standard

  • 使用域

    一般

Rare Kanji

付いて

About について

について is a combination of the case marking particle , the verb う - Verb ()く 'to assume a position', and the conjunction particle て. It is most often translated as 'about (A)', or 'concerning (A)', with the literal translation being closer to 'taking the position of (A)', or 'assuming the topic of (A)'.
について may be used after nouns, or noun-phrases (phrases that use こと, の, etc).
  • 彼女(かのじょ)(わか)れたことについて(はな)したいんだけど時間(じかん)ある?
    I want to talk to you about breaking up with my girlfriend, but do you have time?
  • 契約(けいやく)ことについて(なに)質問(しつもん)はありますか。
    Assuming the topic of the contract, do you have any questions?
  • ()たい(くに)について作文(さくぶん)()てください
    Please write an essay about the country you want to visit.
について may also appear before の + noun. In this use, it means '(A) that is about (B)'.
  • 契約(けいやく)についてパンフレットは明日(あした)(とど)ので、しっかり()みになってください
    The brochure regarding the contract will be delivered tomorrow, so please make sure to read it.
  • 今日(きょう)和製(わせい)英語(えいご)についてレッスンしたい(おも)います
    Today, I am thinking of giving you a lesson about Wasei Eigo.
Caution
It is rare to see について actually using the kanji (). について itself is regularly considered as a single compound word, rather than a combination of its parts.

Examples

  • この問題(もんだい)について(だれ)かに(はな)ましたか。

    Have you talked to anyone concerning this problem?

  • 今日(きょう)子供(こども)教育(きょういく)について講演(こうえん)(おこな)います。

    There will be a lecture today concerning the education of children.

  • 火災(かさい)について訓練(くんれん)するべきです。

    There should be training regarding fires.

  • 震災(しんさい)について情報(じょうほう)(おし)えてもらった。

    I was taught information concerning earthquake disasters.

  • 原因(げんいん)についてまだ調査中(ちょうさちゅう)です。

    Regarding the cause, we are still investigating.

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について – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (20 in total)

  • amph1ptere

    amph1ptere

    About 2 months ago

    Also the first question I asked myself when I saw this grammar point. Does anyone have any insight into the nuance between は and について specifically? I don’t think it’s been answered elsewhere in this thread.

  • simias

    simias

    About 2 months ago

    「について」と「は」について:

    Hopefully someone with deeper knowledge of the language will chime in but I think this confusion only arises because sometimes people translate Japanese は as “regarding X” or “concerning X” etc… which are also translations for について.

    But that’s kind of misleading in this case because we only translate は that way when we want to emphasize the grammatical role of は in a sentence. It’s rarely the proper way to translate it into English. For instance you would only translate 彼は日本人です as “regarding him, he’s Japanese” if you were looking to really break down the grammar, it’s not a correct and natural translation of the Japanese. A more natural translation would simply be “he’s Japanese”.

    On the other hand 彼について、日本人です would actually mean “on the topic of him, he’s Japanese” or something to that effect. It’s a lot more “forceful” and literal as a way to set the topic.

    As an example you look at the titles for this podcast for beginners:

  • simias

    simias

    About 2 months ago

    I just encountered this sentence in the wild that showcases both について and は:

    ことみくんは私について何か言っていたかね

    If you translate very literally:

    As for (は) kotomi-kun, on the subject of (について) me, did he say something?

    But in a less literal translation you’d probably just say:

    Did kotomi-kun say something about me?

    The は kind of disappears in this translation and kotomi-kun becomes the grammatical subject, but the について is still present in the “about”.

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