に代わって details
in place of N; on behalf of N — one party stands where another would have
本日は社長に代わりまして、私がご挨拶申し上げます。
honjitsu wa shachou ni kawarimashite, watashi ga go aisatsu moushiagemasu.
Today, on behalf of our president, I will say a few words. formal
手紙に代わって、メールが連絡の中心になった。
tegami ni kawatte, meeru ga renraku no chuushin ni natta.
Email took over from letters as the main way of keeping in touch. neutral
- formal
- formal
Examples
on behalf of N — someone stands in for the person who would normally have acted
本日は社長に代わりまして、私がご挨拶申し上げます。
honjitsu wa shachou ni kawarimashite, watashi ga go aisatsu moushiagemasu.
Today, on behalf of our president, I will say a few words. formal
入院中の父に代わって、私が式に出席します。
nyuuinchuu no chichi ni kawatte, watashi ga shiki ni shusseki shimasu.
In place of my father, who is in hospital, I will be attending the ceremony. neutral
in place of N — one thing takes over the position another used to hold
手紙に代わって、メールが連絡の中心になった。
tegami ni kawatte, meeru ga renraku no chuushin ni natta.
Email took over from letters as the main way of keeping in touch. neutral
近年、石炭に代わって天然ガスが使われるようになった。
kinnen, sekitan ni kawatte tennen gasu ga tsukawareru you ni natta.
In recent years natural gas has come to be used in place of coal. neutral
Formation
{N}に代わってattaches to noun
Variant notes
- に代わり — the て drops for written register, the same move as に対して→に対し — notices, programmes and reports (社長に代わり、副社長が出席いたしました).
- に代わりまして — ます inserted for the podium — this is what is said out loud at a ceremony or an opening, where に代わって alone would sound too plain.
Notes
×ビールに代わってジュースをください → ビールの代わりに
ジュースをください. Watch the kanji too: 〜に変わって makes the noun what
something turned INTO, the opposite role from the one it holds here.
Related patterns
Similar
代わりに takes a clause as readily as a noun and owns the compensation reading (狭い代わりに家賃が安い), which に代わって cannot express at all; に代わって hangs off a noun only and belongs to written prose rather than to speech.
として names a capacity the subject holds in their own right (代表として挨拶する); に代わって says the person who should have been there is not, so the noun in front of it is the one who is absent rather than the one speaking.