以/從…來看grammar point · tier 2 · viewed from X 以/從…來看 (judging by this measure/angle)
Frames a chosen criterion or angle, then reports how the matter looks or rates when sighted along it.
字源 FORM what the parts do
Two brackets close round one measuring line. The opener names it: 以 is grammar's quiet tool, take this measure; 從 is a path out of a source (彳 a step, 从 the old follow-graph of two people one behind the other, also giving the sound, 止 a foot), set out from this angle. 來看 closes it: 來, the wheat graph on loan for "come," and 看, a hand (手) raised flat over an eye (目) to gaze far. The axis you sight along sits between.
故事 STORY a scene to remember it by
One thing on the ground, and a single line drawn out to it. An eye sights down that one line and reads off only what lands on it; swing to another line and a different reading comes back.
字源記憶法
框 · Frame
以/從 [criterion/angle] 來看，[verdict from that angle]
觸 · Trigger
You want to fix one measuring axis — pay, stability, cost — and say how the thing rates along that axis, not how it rates overall.
序 · The move
1Pick the single axis you are judging along and put it after 以 or 從.Is the slot a measure or angle of judgment (薪水, 穩定性), not a person whose viewpoint it is? A person wants 對…來說.
2Close the bracket with 來看 and a pause, then state the verdict.Does the verdict read off that one axis only? If it sums up everything, the frame is wasted.
3Read it back from the picture.Does it report how the thing rates sighted down this line (success), rather than aim an action or report who is affected (failure)?
例 · Examples
1得到這份工作的時候，我覺得以薪水xīnshuǐ — salary, pay來看，算是suànshì — counts as, qualifies as相當xiāngdāng — quite, fairly不錯。從穩定性wěndìngxìng — stability來看，這間公司值得zhídé — to be worth投資。
When I got this job, I felt that by the pay, it counted as quite good. Viewed from stability, the company is worth investing in.
以/從…來看 seats the bracket on a measuring axis and reads off how the thing rates along it (以薪水來看 = judging by pay). 對…來說 seats it on a party and reports how things weigh from that party's seat (對我來說 = from where I stand). Axis-of-measure against party-of-standpoint.
按照 names a rule or plan an action is carried out to match (按照規定辦 = do it the way the rules say). 以/從…來看 names an angle a judgment is read from and commands no action (從這點來看 = seen from this point). Conform-an-action against sight-a-verdict.
✗ 對薪水來看，算是不錯 → ✓ 以薪水來看，算是不錯 (the bracket holds a measure, not a party; an axis takes 以/從…來看, a person takes 對…來說)
✗ 以這份工作來看得很好 → ✓ 以這份工作來看，很不錯 (來看 closes the frame and is followed by a verdict clause, not a degree complement)
✗ 從穩定性來說，值得投資 → ✓ 從穩定性來看，值得投資 (an angle of judgment closes with 來看 — sighting it; 來說 belongs to the standpoint frame 對…來說)
English 'in terms of X' and 'for X' blur together. 以/從…來看 is only the measuring sense ('in terms of pay'); the standpoint sense ('for me, ...') wants 對…來說.