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> ただ一つだけ守りたいものを最後まで守り通せばいい。

This quote comes from episode 9 of the anime _Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica_ and
the English subtitles translate it as "Protect the thing you want to protect
until the very end."

However, ただ means "only" and だけ means... "only." Why did the character say
"only one thing only"? Wouldn't either ただ or だけ have been sufficient alone?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-07-24T01:33:45.307
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2018-11-19T14:51:00.853
2018-11-19T14:51:00.853
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question
words quotes
The use of ただ and だけ together redundant?
It's not redundant to use ただ (or たった etc.) and だけ (or ばかり, のみ etc.) together.
It's perfectly natural to say, for example:

> 「 **ただ** 広い **だけ** の庭」  
>  「 **ただ** 一人 **だけ** 生き残る」  
>  「 **ただ** 笑う **ばかり** だ」  
>  「 **たった** 一度会った **だけ** だ」  
>  (Examples taken from 明鏡国語辞典)

* * *

> **ただ** 一つ **だけ** 守りたいものを最後まで守り通せばいい。  
>  Wouldn't either ただ or だけ have been sufficient alone?

Yes, you could rephrase your sentence like this, without changing the meaning:

> ただ一つ、守りたいものを最後まで守り通せばいい。  
>  一つだけ守りたいものを最後まで守り通せばいい。

But ただ～～だけ would sound more emphatic (and could sound a bit more emotional,
too).
CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-07-24T01:59:32.030
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2018-11-18T23:26:21.713
2018-11-18T23:26:21.713
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answer