What does として mean in 「ペットとしてしいくするのはかんたんです。」?


I'm reading a JLPT N5 graded text (to practice reading with kanjis) and I
understand all of it except for the following sentence:

> ペットとしてしいくするのはかんたんです。

I don't understand the として in that sentence. I looked it up on
<http://jgram.org> and [it's listed as an N2 level
expression](http://www.jgram.org/pages/viewOne.php?tagE=toshite), so I guess
it's quite advanced. I read the definition ("indicates the capacity, role, or
function of someone or something"), but I don't get how it fits into the
sentence (I understand it as 'Breeding a pet is easy')




`〜として` in this sense is like you said: in the role/function/capacity of. You
can often remember it `As (a) 〜`. So in this sentence, it might be easier to
understand if you translate this way.

>   * ペットとして[飼育]{し・いく}するのは[簡単]{かん・たん}です。 → Having/Raising/Keeping X (whatever
> animal) **as a pet** is easy. (I think 飼育 is probably one of these
> definitions here more than "breeding", but without more context from the
> passage... See comments below.)
>

Here are some other examples that might help:

>   * あの人はがんばる会社員 **として** よく知られている → That guy is well known **as a** hard-
> working employee.
>   * これは母じゃなくて、友達として言いますけど．．． → I'm not telling you this as your mother, but
> **as a** friend...
>   * 敵 **として** 扱う → Treat someone **as an** enemy
>




`〜として` in this sense is like you said: in the role/function/capacity of. You
can often remember it `As (a) 〜`. So in this sentence, it might be easier to
understand if you translate this way.

>   * ペットとして[飼育]{し・いく}するのは[簡単]{かん・たん}です。 → Having/Raising/Keeping X (whatever
> animal) **as a pet** is easy. (I think 飼育 is probably one of these
> definitions here more than "breeding", but without more context from the
> passage... See comments below.)
>

Here are some other examples that might help:

>   * あの人はがんばる会社員 **として** よく知られている → That guy is well known **as a** hard-
> working employee.
>   * これは母じゃなくて、友達として言いますけど．．． → I'm not telling you this as your mother, but
> **as a** friend...
>   * 敵 **として** 扱う → Treat someone **as an** enemy
>

