42008
I'm having a bad time with this expression:

> 何と言えばいいのかわからない

I kind of know what it means after a long time spent searching on the
Internet, but I just can't grasp how this expression works on a grammar point
of view.

Why the conditional? Does the literal translation is something around the
lines of "If I say something, is it OK? I don't know..." meaning "I don't know
what to say"? Or is it something like "What is something good to say? I don't
know..." but if that's the case, why 言えば and not 言う?

Edit: is it something like:  
言えば : if I say...  
何といいのか : what is good? (If I say)  
わからない: I don't know...

Even if it's correct can somebody confirm it? (Or denies)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2016-12-26T19:16:29.260
42004
2021-11-07T22:09:03.200
2021-11-07T22:09:03.200
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question
meaning parsing
How 「何と言えばいいのかわからない」 works
言えばいいのか can be translated into a part of " **I don't know what would be good
to say** "

> would be good to say '=. 言えばいいのか

Difference between ENG and JPN is ENG puts conditional statement on "state"
while JPN puts conditional statement on "motion".
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-26T21:52:07.100
42008
2016-12-26T21:52:07.100
6941
42004
answer