彼は言わば業界の先駆者だ

N5 彼 kare he N3 言わば iwaba so to speak, in a manner of speaking N5 先 saki ahead / previous / destination N3 者 mono person, someone, individual

N3 彼 hi / kare, kano, ka.no he, that, the N4 言 gen, gon / i.u, koto say, word, dire N4 業 gyou, gou / waza business, vocation, arts N4 界 kai world, boundary, monde N5 先 sen / saki, ma.zu before, ahead, previous N1 駆 ku / ka.keru, ka.ru drive, run, gallop N4 者 sha / mono someone, person, personne

N4 〜ば ba Indicates a hypothetical condition, attaches to verb or adjective, means if it happens then N5 〜の no Indicates possession, relation between nouns, nominal explanation, or turns a verb into a noun phrase N5 〜は wa Marks the topic of the sentence, indicates what the sentence is about, can contrast with another element, organizes main information