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”時間を食う” usage

UsoToChinmoku

後輩
31 Jul 2014
179
2
28
So, I was reading a certain visual novel and ran into this:

【静流】「悩みながらも、前向きなのはいい事ね」俺の考えを汲んでくれたのか、静流叔母さんは微笑んだ。

【優斗】「あ、ありがとうございます。でも、どうすればいいのかまでは、ちょっと思いつかなくて」考えるのは大事だけど、それにばかり時間を食ってもいられない。
ス。

This part: "それにばかり時間を食ってもいられない" The same subject (俺)is consuming time and can't continue like this? Is this supposed to mean that he himself is consuming his time by means of 考えること? 俺は(考えることに)時間を食う?

Shouldn't the suffering passive be used here? Like this: "(俺は)それ(考えること)にばかり時間を食われてもいられない" "I can't continue having my time consumed by nothing but worries."
Can 時間を食う be used both ways? My time is consumed by xxx and I consume my time by doing xxx?
 
Last edited:
You are correct. Grammatically, it should be それにばかり時間を食われてもいられない / 食われるわけにもいかない / 時間を食わせるわけにもいかない or 時間をかけてもいられない. Probably that's the author's mistake. (I suspect the last one might be what the author actually wanted to use.)
 
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