If we mean something depends on how you look at or consider in a specific way, then should we say, that matter is relative?, or “ that matter is proportional”? (not proportional to anything, but in General)
For example: most people consider the “success” as gaining a huge money and properties through one’s life, while others think in different ways (because everybody’s criteria differ from one to another.
So “success” is a relative matter or subject? Or a proportional matter? Or none? Then how should we put it?
I wouldn’t use either “relative” or “proportional.” “Proportional” particularly doesn’t sound right to me. Just say that whether someone thinks that they are successful depends on that person’s own definition of success, not anyone else’s definition of it.
Some people would say “success is relative” and not have an issue, but they’re implying some additional words. Relative to what is missing, but we (native speakers, anyway) fill in “to each person’s values” or something like that. In other words, one person defines success as having money and one defines it as having friends, so whether a rich person is successful is relative to your definition.
I would not use the word proportional there, not in that exact context. Proportional makes sense when you’re comparing sizes, measurements, degrees, etc. If we’re defining success as money, then we could say the the guy with a billion dollars is proportionately more successful than the guy with a million. Or you could say “Success is proportionate to wealth.” Simply saying “Success is proportionate” leaves us wondering to what again, but with no assumptions built in like before.
Subjective would also be my suggestion for that particular usage.
“Relative” is often used as a synonym for “subjective.” It isn’t exactly right, but it gets the message across.
“You like Stephen King, and I don’t, but it’s all relative.” The idea is that we “relate” to our experiences differently.
“Proportional” relates more to quantities and amounts. “You hate Stephen King with the burning fire of a thousand suns. I just hate him a little. It’s proportional.”
So, in the middle of a discussion talking about something, I can say; It’s all relative! or " it’s proportional" , then for more clarification, I continue, it’s proportional to your point of view and values, , or it’s all relative to the way you define it and . . . etc.
Er…kinda, but carefully. When discussing values – “Is this movie any good?” – you can say, “Well, it’s relative. I’ve seen a lot that were worse, but also many that were better.”
When discussing actual quantities – how much – then proportional comes in. “This painter uses far too much yellow, proportionally speaking.”
Why not indeed? It is relative. Go ahead and say it that way; few people will quibble. It can be relative to the audience: if you’re in the presence of a bunch of professional grammarians, someone might raise an eyebrow.
If I say that “success is relative”, I mean something like “a homeless person in America is successful, compared to some poor kid starving in Bangladesh”. But to say that, I have to be using the same standard of “success” for both (in this case, presumably a material one).
If I want to say that there are different standards of success, then I might say that success is subjective or a matter of taste, meaning that even if Donald Trump has a lot more money than I do (which is something he wanted), I’m a lot better than him at solving differential equations (which is something I wanted).
And saying “success is proportional” is meaningless, without saying just what it’s proportional to. I might say, for instance, that “Success is proportional to the amount of effort you put in”. If you want to say that the different parts of something are proportional, then you can say that the thing is proportionate, but I’m not sure how to apply that to success at all.