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I’ve come across this phrase によって/により quite often and I’ve researched and found these meanings: by Person (この本は君によって書かれた？); due to/ because of; by means of (The teacher checked their knowledge by the means of a test); depending on.

But I’ve realized that it has much more meanings? My japanese friend gave me these examples: 酒によっている, 端によってください So how do these translate into English and are there more uses for this によって/により or even によると (according to..)? I feel like Japanese people use this よる verb A Lot! Thank you in advance!!

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    You seem profoundly confused. You are talking about 3 completely different verbs here with the false assumption that there is only one.
    – user4032
    Jun 15, 2019 at 14:39
  • I know that they each have their own kanji, but I’ve been told that they are usually written in hiragana? And while talking I dont have these Kanji either way to seperate them, or am I wrong?
    – TrueHD
    Jun 15, 2019 at 14:54
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    Writing them the same way doesn't make them the same word. Consider the English noun bear and the English verb bear. Both are written the same way, but that doesn't make them the same word.
    – user1478
    Jun 18, 2019 at 16:47

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Welcome to the site! Great to see the community expanding!

I am also a newcomer, so apologies if I am wrong, but on this site you may want to be careful about using the word "research" too lightly (not saying that you did, but just in case...)

What I can say is that while 酒によっている　(=being drunk) was the only example with a "によって” that you gave,　"Xによると"　and "Xによって” mean the same (as long as X is a person / source of news), "according to X" and in both cases the message (=what the source told) comes afterwards, i.e. the structure being SOURCEによると/によってMESSAGE

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  • Hi @Tuomo, thank you for your answer. Why do I have to use the word research lightly??
    – TrueHD
    Jun 15, 2019 at 15:54
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    ^ Why do I have to use the word research lightly?? I think Tuomo meant to say you shouldn't use the word "research" lightly...
    – Chocolate ♦
    Jun 15, 2019 at 16:12
  • Oh yeah I got that haha, but whats so wrong about it? Is it because my research wasnt perfect in that sense?
    – TrueHD
    Jun 15, 2019 at 17:34
  • Sorry english isnt my first language does research sound wrong in this case?
    – TrueHD
    Jun 15, 2019 at 17:35
  • Hi @TrueHD, English isn't my first language, either, but if I was was worrying about whether the commas around the "either" above were neede, I would not do that on this forum but maybe in the "English Language & (its) Usage. And yes, to be picky to myself, I should also have used "site" instead of "forum" in my original answer).
    – Tuomo
    Jun 15, 2019 at 20:49

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