かと言(い)うと ②If you ask me..., If I had to say, If I were to say, If I were to choose one, I'd rather

～かというと is a phrase that has two primary functions. The first is used in conjunction with 'why' and 'how' words, while the other is used with 'who', 'when', 'where', 'which' or 'what'. We will focus on the latter in this lesson. かというと is a combination of the case marking particle か in its use as a question marker, the case marking particle と in its citation use, the う - Verb 言(い)う 'to say', and the case marking particle と in its result use.

This is quite a few particles combined together, but the literal meaning is more simply 'if (A) were to be asked', before the speaker will go on to highlight their reasoning in (B). 何(なん)で, 何(なに), どちら, 誰(だれ), どの, and similar words often appear as the 'who', 'where', or 'which' words in these sentences.

As ～かというと will come before some sort of explanation, から will also regularly be used at the end of the sentence as 'because', emphasizing the speaker's reasoning.

Caution

Like other grammar points that utilize the 'if' nuance of と, ば, and sometimes even たら may be used. However, たら will appear far less frequently than と or ば.