48924
There is a piece of song lyric I cannot understand: "切ない胸さえ" (せつないむねさえ)

I gathered from this source [http://japanesetest4you.com/flashcard/learn-
jlpt-n3-grammar-さえ-sae/](http://japanesetest4you.com/flashcard/learn-
jlpt-n3-grammar-%E3%81%95%E3%81%88-sae/) and others that さえ means "even",
which would make this sentence something like "Even a broken heart". But I
don't really understand it in context and wonder if perhaps there is another
use for it here?

The full lyrics can be found here, for more context: <http://www.kasi-
time.com/item-38646.html> (it's on the 6th line). (Perhaps I do not even
understand the surrounding lyrics enough).

Thank you.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-30T12:22:31.190
48912
2017-06-30T20:58:35.073
20379
question
particle-さえ
さえ at the end of a sentence
This looks like a case of a sentence fragment/phrase used out of grammatical
order to supplement the preceding expression (see: [is this sentence
gramatically correct? "ano ko ga futteita makka na
sukaafu"](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/48811/is-this-sentence-
gramatically-correct-ano-ko-ga-futteita-makka-na-sukaafu/48827))

As far as the whole of the expression goes:

> 恋は届かない時を 経験するうちに 強くなってゆくものだね **切ない胸さえ**

Let's rearrange it a bit:

> 恋は届かない時を 経験するうちに **切ない胸さえ** 強くなってゆくものだね

...my sense of parsing tells me that that phrase actually belongs here.

Part of the reason this might occur is to highlight a specific portion of the
lyrics with the music, or to make the lyrics line up with the music, that
sometimes 100% perfect standard is changed into another tone.

Alternatively, this happens in speech sometimes, when speaking about a feeling
or an action, colloquially, sometimes explaining comes first then does the
subject. So, considering the translation, you might look at it as:

> 恋は届かない時を 経験するうちに 強くなってゆくものだね **切ない胸さえ**  
>  The experience of love not reaching (that person) can make you stronger,
> **even (fix/make strong) a broken heart**

Sounds a little funny, but in the normal order:

> 恋は届かない時を 経験するうちに **切ない胸さえ** 強くなってゆくものだね  
>  The experience of love not reaching (that person) can make even a broken
> heart stronger

That sounds a little more like what that's attempting to convey, doesn't it?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-30T20:58:35.073
48924
2017-06-30T20:58:35.073
21684
48912
answer