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いけない/ しばらく頃合い

Rinilex

先輩
20 Feb 2013
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Hey all.

1) In the sentence 存在してはいけない手紙だった, is the meaning here "a letter that shouldn't have existed"? (The context is it's a letter from someone who shouldn't have been capable of writing one.) Because いけない to me seemed to be more "must (not)" but it didn't fit quite as well.

And following that, would あり得るはずもない手紙 mean "A letter I never even thought to be possible"?

2) しばらく頃合いを見計らい続けた - would this mean something like, "For a while, I continued to wait for the right moment"? I've not come across the other words before apart from 続ける.

3) Have I read this correctly? "そして幾分過ぎた頃... (I told her that...)" I'm reading a document with fairly small characters and I'm not sure if it's right, because I don't really understand it.
 
1) It's a letter that shouldn't have existed. But it has more of a negative emphasis, that implies something like that if it was a terrible evil letter that was about to end the world.. rather than directly imply that it shouldn't be there because the creator shouldn't have been able to create it. I would use "存在するはずがない手紙だった。" あり得るはずもない手紙 basically means that yes.. but

2) that's what it seems to mean みはからい【見計らい】の意味 - 国語辞書 - goo辞書

3) It makes sense I think.. although I'm not completely sure.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, I started trying so it would feel like a complete waste of time if I deleted it, hope it doesn't lead to any confusion.. :D
 
1)
Judging from the context, 存在してはいけない would emphasize the impossibility of the existence of the letter. あり得るはずもない手紙 is also the same. There is no the speaker's/writer's subjective impression in this expression.

2)
Your translation is correct. 見計らい is the -masu stem of a verb 見計らう "to choose the right moment", and "the -masu stem of a verb + 続ける" means "to continue to do".

3)
If "the (right) moment" is mentioned previously, it would be correct. 幾分過ぎた means "a bit past the (right) time", so it's hardly used when "the time in the topic" is not stated.
 
Thank you!

1) The document is a sort of report written in first person; he's recalling when the letter arrived. Would this change that at all?

3) Ohh, I see. So it implies he waited a little longer than he perhaps should have? (I get the feeling it's not something he wanted to tell her.)
 
1)
Those are both objective expressions. There is no implication of "I never even thought" in them.

2)
It depends on the context, but just "a little later" might be more close.
 
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