word choice - Is there a difference between からすると and からして？

These two phrases seem to have very similar usage and I'm unable to determine the difference between them.

The examples I have are:

彼は服装からしてだらしない。きっと他の面も同じだろう。
kare ha fukusou karashite darashinai. kitto hoka no men mo onaji darou.

症状からすると、心臓の病気かもしれません。
shoujyou kara suru to, shinzou no byouki kamo shiremasen.

However, both of these phrases seem to translate to the English word "from" or "based on". I've asked a few Japanese friends about the difference, but they were unable to explain it eloquently.

Is it possible to switch からすると and からして in the preceding examples? Will it still be grammatically correct.

(Additionally, からして seems to have the meaning of "for a start" as in ひらがなからして読めない or "For a start, I can't even read hiragana." But this usage seems to be completely separate to the "from" or "based on" usage.)

Answer

As @Oren Ronen mentioned, there are actually two different grammar constructs concerning this.

Case 1: ～からして, meaning "beginning with". This is used in a list of examples (often incomplete), primarily in a negative context.

• 私はあの人があまり好きではない。下品な話し方からして気に入らない。 -- I don't like that guy very much. Starting with his vulgar talk, he just doesn't sit well with me. (indicates possible other negative aspects about the guy, even though they aren't listed.

Case 2: ～からして（も） ／ ～からすると ／ ～からすれば. These mean, "thinking about it from the standpoint/position of ..."

• 米を作る農家からすると、涼しい夏はあまりありがたくないことだ -- From the viewpoint of farmers that produce rice, cool summers are not a very good thing.
  



• 芸人とかタレントなどからしていつもファンのためサインするのが大変かもしれない -- Thinking about it from their view, it must be tiring for entertainers and celebrities to always be signing autographs for fans.

Now, in case 2, the three forms are definitely interchangeable (with the nuance of adding も to form ～からしても -- "Even from the standpoint of..."), and in fact, they are grouped together for this definition. However, for case 1, I don't believe they are. I've only heard of case 1 using ～からして, but maybe I've just never encountered this meaning with the other forms (any natives feel free to correct this).

Your first example seems to be case 1: the first negative point about the guy's "slackerness" is his clothing. So here I would say they are not interchangeable. But your second example seems to be case 2 ("Looking at the symptoms, it might be a coronary illness"), so you could use ～からすると or ～からすれば here.