～くせに
even though (reproach)
～くせに means “even though” or “despite”, but with a sharp edge: the speaker is criticizing or reproaching the person it describes. It attaches to the plain form of a verb or い-adjective, to な-adjective + な, or to noun + の.
Both halves of the sentence describe the same person, and that person is being blamed, so it is not used about people you need to be polite to.
1. Reproaching someone’s behavior
Use ～くせに when someone’s action (or inaction) contradicts what they are or what they know, and you disapprove.
知っているくせに教えない。
“He won’t tell me, even though he knows.”
- 知っている（しっている）= knows (て-form of 知る + いる)
- くせに = even though (with reproach)
- 教えない（おしえない）= won’t tell (negative of 教える, to tell, teach)
2. After a noun: “for a ...”
With noun + のくせに, the speaker implies the person does not behave the way someone of that status should.
学生のくせに高い車に乗っている。
“He drives an expensive car, even though he’s just a student.”
- 学生（がくせい）= student
- の = links the noun to くせに
- くせに = even though (with disapproval)
- 高い（たかい）= expensive
- 車（くるま）= car
- に = target marker (used with 乗る)
- 乗っている（のっている）= drives, rides (て-form of 乗る + いる)
Compare with the neutral ～のに: 知っているのに教えない simply reports the contradiction, while 知っているくせに教えない adds the speaker’s irritation “and that’s mean of him”.
How to form it
Plain form + くせに / な-adjective + なくせに / Noun + のくせに
- 知っている（しっている）= to know → 知っているくせに（しっているくせに）= even though (he) knows
- 下手（へた）= bad at → 下手なくせに（へたなくせに）= even though (he’s) bad at it
- 学生（がくせい）= student → 学生のくせに（がくせいのくせに）= even though (he’s) a student
Key idea
～くせに is “even though” plus blame. If you only want to state a contrast, use のに; reach for くせに when you also want to say the person should know better.
Other N3 grammar
Updated .