- JLPT N1
に足る(にたる)
NikoJLPT N1: に足る（にたる // suffice; be worthy of)
Before diving into this lesson, I recommend reviewing this previous N1 lesson: JLPT N1: たる.
In the pattern "[something] に足る NOUN," one can express that a NOUN (i.e. someone or something) is worthy of or sufficient for [something]."
For example:
あの大統領は、国民の信頼に足る人物だろうか。
あの だいとうりょう は、 こくみん の しんらい にたる じんぶつ だろうか。
I wonder if that president is worthy of her [his] people’s trust.
The speaker appears to be thinking this to himself.
So, we have:
信頼（しんらい // trust; faith; reliance）
＋
に足る（にたる // suffice; be worthy of）
＋
人物（じんぶつ // person; figure; character）
＝
信頼に足る人物（しんらいにたるじんぶつ // a person worthy of trust）
In the above example, you'll see that に足る is preceded by a するNOUN (i.e. a NOUN capable of pairing up with する). It is also possible to put Vる in front of it. It will always be followed by a NOUN:
Vる ＋ に足る ＋ NOUN
するNOUN ＋ に足る ＋ NOUN
Another example:
「風と共に去りぬ」は一読するに足る大傑作だ。
「かぜ と ともに さりぬ」 は いちどく する にたる だいけっさく だ。
Gone with the Wind is a great masterpiece that deserves to be read (at least once).
去りぬ is an outdated way of saying 去った、去ってしまった、去っていった, etc. In other words, it expresses a past-tense/completed action of "leaving" or "going away."
Yet another example:
平昌オリンピックでは、十分満足に足る結果を残すことができました。
ぴょんちゃん オリンピック で は、 じゅうぶん まんぞく にたる けっか を のこす ことができました。
Our achievements at the PyeongChang Olympics were sufficiently satisfactory. // My (team's) achievements at the PyeongChang Olympics were more than enough to be satisfied with.
↑ I always have a hard time translating sentences that, from a literal English perspective, appear to be redundant.
In our first English translation above, the word "sufficiently" appears to refer to both 十分 (じゅうぶん // enough; plenty) and に足る (にたる // suffice; be worthy of).
In the second sentence, I went with "more than enough" to express the combination of the two. Maybe there is a better way to translate it, but I couldn't think of one.
The first time that I ever came across に足る "in the wild" was in the set phrase 取るに足らない (とるにたらない), which means something like "worthless" or "having no value."
Here's an example using it:
彼らはいつも取るに足らない問題について延々と議論している。
かれら は いつも とる にたらない もんだい について えんえん と ぎろん している。
They’re always arguing about trivial problems. // They never stop fighting over meaningless issues.
You've done it again! Another lesson for the books.
Niko
