なりに・
Something is done, or has its worth, within a person's or a thing's own limits: in their own way, as far as they can.
He did his best in his own way.
Newcomers have a point of view of their own.
If the budget is small, we can set our priorities to fit it.
After a noun (the usual case)
Noun + なりに ／ なりの + noun
私なりに, 自分なりの答え. The noun is often said twice: 彼は彼なりに, 新人には新人なりの.
After a verb or an adjective
Plain form + なりに ／ なりの + noun
高いなりの価値 (value to match its price), 少ないなりに, 努力したなりの結果. A な-adjective drops だ: 不便なりに.
- Before it
- Whose limits or level it is: a person (私, 子ども, 新人) or a condition (小さな会社, 安い, 不便).
- Said about
- Yourself, modestly. A child or a junior, kindly. Not a superior's effort or work.
- Where you'll meet it
- Everywhere. It is everyday Japanese, spoken and written.
In use
I have thought about this problem in my own way.
Children, in their own way, are quick to sense the mood in the family.
This small company has the strengths that come with being small.
Cheap things are cheap for a reason.
Two things to know
As praise it has a ceiling
The credit is real but limited: good, for who or what it is. Said to someone above you about their own work, it belittles them.
Sounds odd: 部長も
You did your best too, in your own way.
To a department head this says "as far as you were able".
それなりに, それなりの
You'll hear these most of all. それなりに is "well enough, in its way". それなりの is "of a fitting kind or amount".
This place is cheap, but the food is good enough.
If you are going to study abroad, you need to be ready for what that takes.
Other なり
A different word: "the moment" someone does something.
The moment she read the letter, her expression changed.
なり～なりN1
Twice in a row: this, or that, or something like them.
Please order tea, coffee, or whatever you like.
Close neighbours
にしてはN3
Surprise: the result isn't what you'd expect of one. なりに isn't surprised; it credits what was within reach.
This child is very calm for a ten-year-old.
らしいN4
All that the noun should be, with no ceiling: 子どもらしい is "just like a child", 子どもなりに "as far as a child can".
Please come dressed as a student should be.
Check yourself
1Who could you say this to without giving offense?
あなたなりに、
Choose an answer to see why.
2What does this mean?
安い
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
I may be short on experience, but I have prepared as well as I can in my own way.
An inconvenient place has its own appeal: you can live quietly there.
A failure has a meaning of its own.