97824
This a part of the song "Donut hole" by hachi

```

    何も知らないままでいるのが   
    あなたを傷つけてはしないか
    
```

I asked a japanese person and they told me it's similar to
`あなたを傷つけるのではないだろうか`. However I don't understand how it works grammatically. As
far as I know the は particle cannot topicalize verbs in the TE FORM.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-25T23:13:06.960
97373
2022-12-27T18:46:56.237
50324
question
grammar song-lyrics
What is the meaning of this ては
The sentence was probably made by two steps.

Firstly, why we use 傷つけ **ては** いないか,not 傷つけていないか. Because ”ては” can emphasis
the sentence.

Secondly, why Yonezu uses 傷つけては **しないか** ,not 傷つけてはいないか. This is difficult
problem. Although I'm Japanese, I think this expression is a little wrong.
But, I guess he wants to give us to a little weird feeling.

I translate them forcibly, あなたを傷つけていないか means ”Am I hurting you?”,
あなたを傷つけてはいないか means ”Am I even hurting you?”, あなたを傷つけてはしないか means ”Do I even
hurting you?”.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-27T18:46:56.237
97824
2022-12-27T18:46:56.237
55322
97373
answer