86506
I learned "Verbーえばいい" to mean "should Verb" but I have come across two
sentences where Netflix translated it as "just do V". Netflix's translation
also makes more sense in context.

**Example #1**  
(Person A just came back from the hospital)  
Person B: 大丈夫？  
Person A: 大丈夫。薬 飲めばいい。(I'm fine. I **just** have to take my medicine.)

**Example #2**  
Person A is ruining the plan by acting unnatural  
Person B: もっと自然に言えばいいんだよ ( **Just** talk more naturally.)

**Does ーえばいい mean not only "should", but also has an extra added nuance of
"just"?**

Like "I am suggesting you do X", as well as implying that:

  * "X is all you need to do" or
  * "Simply doing X would be good" or
  * "X and nothing more is needed"
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2021-05-06T14:03:02.773
86504
2021-05-06T16:53:36.110
41085
question
grammar
Verb-えばいい = (should V) + (just do V)?
飲めば, 言えば, etc. are conditional forms. `[V cond. form]-いい` literally means “if
you do (the act of the verb), it will be good.” Since the speaker is asserting
“it will be good” giving only one condition, I think it would be safe to say
`[V cond. form]-いい` indeed has the implication of “only if”.

Actually, it doesn’t always have the advice sense of “should.” Depending on
the context, いい could mean “I’m good with anything” or “I don’t care”.

> 食べたいものを食べればいい。  
>  Eat whatever you want to eat. (I wouldn’t mind it.)

> 好きなようにすればいい。  
>  Do as you wish. (I don’t care.)

As an expression for giving advice, `[V cond. form]-いい` could sound a bit
pushy. `[V た-form]-方がいい` would be a safer choice in most cases. This literally
translates into something like “the alternative of having done (the act of the
verb) would be better (than other alternatives)”, or more idiomatically, “it
would be better if you did (the act of the verb)”.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-06T16:46:59.973
86506
2021-05-06T16:53:36.110
2021-05-06T16:53:36.110
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43676
86504
answer