に合わせてto match; to suit; in time with
You shape what you do to fit something that stays as it is: clapping to the music, cutting a talk to fit the time, opening a shop in time for a holiday.
The children clapped in time with the music.
We cut our script down to fit the time we had for the presentation.
How to form it
Noun + に合わせて
Before a noun it becomes に合わせた: 予算に合わせたプラン, a plan to suit your budget.
- Before it
- What stays as it is. A rhythm: 音楽, ペース. A size, a level or a wish: 予算, レベル, 好み, 都合. A date or an occasion: 季節, 開店, クリスマス.
- After it
- What someone does to fit it: 変える, 選ぶ, 決める, 作る, 歌う, 踊る.
- Where you'll meet it
- Everywhere: conversation, shops and ads, and news, where it often means "timed for".
In use
I walked a little slower to keep pace with the person I was with.
You can choose from three courses to suit your budget.
Shop talk.
The bus schedule will change to coincide with the opening of the new station.
News: timed for it.
Someone does the fitting
English "depending on" covers two things. に合わせて is for fitting one thing to another. When things simply differ from case to case, it is によって.
We change the menu to suit the season.
Someone changes it to fit.
The menu is different depending on the season.
It just differs. Nobody is shown adjusting anything.
Close neighbours
に応じてN2
The formal relative, for rules and systems: an amount or a treatment is set by a level or a condition. A level or someone's wishes can come before either. Keeping time with the music, or timing something for an event, is only に合わせて.
The size of the scholarship varies with your grades.
Check yourself
1Which one fits?
人
Choose an answer to see why.
2Who changed their pace?
私は
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
It is the verb 合わせる, to make one thing fit another, so it can end a sentence too.
He always goes along with the other person.
With no に before it, 合わせて is "altogether".
The two come to 3,000 yen altogether.
More sentences
I took a train one earlier to be in time for the start of the meeting.
We reduced the number of desks to suit the size of the venue.
The instructor chose practice questions to match the participants' experience.
The staff will adjust the travel plan to suit the customer's wishes.