53728
> というわけで、僕は六歳 **にして** 、画家というすばらしい職業をめざすのをあきらめた。  
>  For that reason, at six years old I abandoned my goal of having a wonderful
> occupation as a painter.

I don't really understand how にして works here. Literally I read "making into
six years old". So might "having reached six years old" be a better
translation than "at six years old"?
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2017-10-10T20:44:50.667
53725
2021-10-20T13:25:17.883
7944
question
grammar
Difference between 六歳にして and 六歳で
There is a big (and important) difference in meaning and nuance between
「六歳{ろくさい}で」 and 「六歳にして」.

「六歳 **で** 」 is just **neutral** and **factual**. " _ **One did something at
age six**_." There is no surprise or any other special feeling expressed
regarding it happening at that age. For instance, if you moved to London with
your family or started learning to play the piano when you were six, that
would be 「六歳で」. No one would wonder "Why so early/late?", would he?

「六歳で」, therefore, is synonymous to 「六歳の時{とき}に」.

「六歳 **にして** 」 is _much_ different in that it expresses the speaker's feeling
that it was (a little) too early for something to occur at age six. Thus, it
would mean " **at as young as (six)** ", " **at a rather young age of (six)**
", etc. One would normally expect that to happen at a later stage in life (if
it happened).

_**" For that reason, at a rather (surprisingly/unusually) young age of six, I
(already) abandoned my goal of having a wonderful occupation as a painter."**_

Conversely, if one said 「Aさんは70歳にして大学に入学した。」, one would clearly be thinking
that it was an unusually late start.

I am afraid that neither "making into six years old" nor "having reached six
years old" would capture the nuance of the phrase.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-10-10T23:33:03.550
53728
2021-10-20T13:25:17.883
2021-10-20T13:25:17.883
53725
answer