95180
Context: the girls need to hide in a shop run by a man who always makes them
buy something if they go in in normal times.

> もし、あの店に逃げ込んだら、 **ただでさえ** とぼしいまる子の財布への打撃はさけられない。  
>  If they took refuge in that shop the blow to Maruko's meager wallet could
> not be avoided.

I don't know how to interpret ただでさえ in this sentence. The dictionary says "at
the best of times" but that doesn't fit with my translation. It only works if
I omit the conditional phrase: "At the best of times the blow to Maruko's
wallet could not be avoided".

However, I'm not confident about the rest of my translation. I'm unsure about
さけられない. Is the verb actually 避ける? Is it potential or passive? I've used both
which makes me think I've got it wrong.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-26T17:35:24.980
95177
2022-06-27T00:03:20.723
7944
question
grammar meaning particle-さえ
Meaning of ただでさえ
This ただでさえ modifies とぼしい. Her wallet is meager even at the best of times. ただ
means "ordinary; usual", so the literal translation of ただでさえ is "even at
ordinary times".

This 避けられない is in the negative-potential form. Note that は modifies the object
of 避ける here (e.g., このキノコは食べられない This mushroom is not edible).
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-27T00:03:20.723
95180
2022-06-27T00:03:20.723
5010
95177
answer