What kind of word is 雨さえ and how does it work with なければ since it does not seem
to be a adjective or verb?

full sentence:

雨さえなければ、七月四日に花火大会を行うつもりです。 (As long as it doesn't rain, we intend to hold the
fireworks display on July 4th.)
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2023-08-26T12:45:50.827
100797
2023-08-27T05:08:55.140
57103
question
particle-さえ
雨さえなければ - meaning
According to Martin, さえ has three meanings, the basic meaning being 'in
addition', e.g. 道が暗いうえに雨さえ降りだした 'The road was dark and on top of that it
started to rain'. More frequently it means 'even', much like も which can in
fact be attached to さえ、さえも. The third meaning, here, is to narrow the focus
onto some element (adjunct of the verb, or the verb itself) before a verb + えば
(provisional), conveying the meaning of '(if) just', e.g. 暇さえあれば, 'if there
just be time', 薬さえ飲めば, 'if you just take your medicine', with emphasis on
'medicine', while 薬を飲みさえすれば puts the emphasis on the 'taking'; we would
distinguish this with stress in English.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-27T05:08:55.140
100805
2023-08-27T05:08:55.140
40564
100797
answer