对 + Person/Thing + 来说, + Comment
对...来说 (duì...láishuō) — 'as for..., from ...'s point of view'
对...来说 frames the comment that follows as true specifically from a particular person's, group's, or thing's point of view — it flags that the statement might not hold universally, only for this perspective: 对我来说，学汉语不难 (for me, learning Chinese isn't hard [though it might be hard for others]). It usually opens the sentence, with the person/thing sandwiched between 对 and 来说, followed by a comma and the actual comment. Don't confuse it with 关于/对于 (which introduce a TOPIC being discussed, not a perspective the comment is filtered through) — 对我来说 says 'from my standpoint', while 关于我 would mean 'about me [as a topic]', a very different meaning. The deciding question: is what follows true specifically from this one viewpoint, possibly different for someone else (→对...来说), or is this just naming the topic under discussion (→关于/对于, see that point)?
Examples
- 对我来说，学汉语不难，但是写汉字有点儿难。duì wǒ lái shuō, xué hàn yǔ bù nán, dàn shì xiě hàn zì yǒu diǎnr nán
For me, learning Chinese isn't hard, but writing characters is a bit hard.
- 对年轻人来说，手机已经是生活中不可缺少的东西了。duì nián qīng rén lái shuō, shǒu jī yǐ jīng shì shēng huó zhōng bù kě quē shǎo de dōng xi le
For young people, phones are already an indispensable part of life.
- 对我来说这个价格太贵了，但是对他来说很便宜。duì wǒ lái shuō zhè ge jià gé tài guì le, dàn shì duì tā lái shuō hěn pián yi
This price is too expensive for me, but it's cheap for him.
Common mistake
✗ Wrong: 关于我来说，学汉语不难。
✓ Right: 对我来说，学汉语不难。
'From my point of view' needs 对...来说, not 关于...来说 — 关于 introduces a topic being talked ABOUT, it doesn't combine with 来说 to mean 'from someone's perspective'.
Practice this pattern
Fill in the missing character:
＿我来说，学汉语不难，但是写汉字有点儿难。
For me, learning Chinese isn't hard, but writing characters is a bit hard.