Grammar › Emphasis & Exclusivity
にたる — “worthy of, deserving of”
Says something meets the bar required to earn a particular respected label
Noun + にたる (from 足る, “to be sufficient”) says something meets the standard required to deserve a certain description — “worthy of being called X” or “deserving of X.” It's formal and appears almost exclusively as a set phrase modifying a following noun (信頼するにたる人物 — a person worthy of trust).
How to form it
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| Verb (dictionary form) + にたる + noun | 尊敬するにたる人物 — a person worthy of respect |
Example sentences
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 彼は信頼するにたる人物だ。 | かれはしんらいするにたるじんぶつだ。 karehashinraisurunitarujinbutsuda。 | He's a person worthy of trust. |
| これは記念するにたる出来事だった。 | これはきねんするにたるできごとだった。 korehakinensurunitarudekigotodatta。 | This was an event worth commemorating. |
| 満足するにたる結果を残せた。 | まんぞくするにたるけっかをのこせた。 manzokusurunitarukekkawonokoseta。 | I managed a result worth being satisfied with. |
🔊 Tap any Japanese sentence to hear it; kanji link to their study pages.
Watch out
にたる is a formal, almost archaic construction that essentially only pairs with a small handful of verbs (信頼する, 尊敬する, 記念する, 満足する) before a noun — it isn't a general-purpose way to say “enough to.”