58337
In a novel I encountered a question that consists only from a 〜ば conditional.
The speaker doesn’t want to go downstairs and is suggesting someone else to do
that for him:

> 「降りれば？」

The meaning is quite clear from the context and I’d translate it like “Maybe
you could go there?” or similar.

Still I can’t figure out why does it convey this meaning. The sentence looks
like an ellipse to me, where the second part is missing and only the 〜ば part
remains. But what is the other part? Which meaning of the 〜ば conjunction is
the one here?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-04T03:15:58.987
58336
2018-05-04T06:30:44.330
10104
question
grammar translation questions conditionals
Question with only 〜ば conditional
This is probably a casual suggestion rather than a question, "Why don't you go
downstairs?" Depending on the context, it may sound like an indifferent
permission, "(Do as you like,) I don't mind if you go downstairs." This is a
very common pattern you should memorize, but the full sentence would be
something like "降りればいいんじゃない(の)(か)?" (literally "It's okay if you go
downstairs, isn't it?")

Of course the same sentence can sometimes work as a simple question, "What if
I go downstairs?"
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-04T06:30:44.330
58337
2018-05-04T06:30:44.330
5010
58336
answer