暑い夏の日は、エアコンのおかげで一日中涼しくいられる。

[healer]

The translation was “On a hot summer day, the air conditioner works all day to keep us cool.”
What is いられる above?
Is it the potential form of 居る?
I’m not too sure. It doesn’t make sense to me if it is its passive form.
Nevertheless I still feel it might not 居る.

 

[Toritoribe]

That's potential of いる, and not passive.

 

[bentenmusume]

To follow up on Toritoribe-san's explanation, yes, it's potential. The translation given obscures the meaning of the Japanese structure a bit. The subject of the EN sentence "the air conditioner works..." is the air conditioner, but in the JP sentence, the (implied) subject is "we."

It might be easier to understand as: "On hot summer days, we can (i.e. are able to) stay cool all day thanks to our air conditioner."

 

[healer]

That's potential of いる

Thanks Toritoribe-san.

If you don't mind, please tell me why a potential form is used. Would it be the same meaning for the same purpose if 涼しくいる is used instead?

I haven't learnt about the grammar of adverbial form of adjectives going with いる but するand なる. I've tried to google it but found only one which is Use of adverb with いる. That tells いる in such syntax is like "be" in the English language. I've always understood いる means "to be" or "exist" for animate objects only and refers to a state of continuation. I would like to know how this combination is put together. Do all adverbs derived from na-adjectives or i-adjectives going with いる always mean to be in the state of what the adverbs describe?

 

[bentenmusume]

If you don't mind, please tell me why a potential form is used. Would it be the same meaning for the same purpose if 涼しくいる is used instead?

I thought I alluded to this in my response. The idea is "we are able to stay cool." The potential form of いる ("to be") suggests having the capability to be in that state. 涼しくいる without the potential would just mean "to be cool" without the notion of being able to be in that condition (thanks to the air conditioner).

Most textbooks don't explicitly cover this because it doesn't occur as often as with する and なる but it's the same basic grammatical pattern.

One thing that's worth noting is that to express a similar sentiment with -な adjectives (or nouns), you'll typically get phrases like いつまでも綺麗でいられる or 友達でいられる, not に as you might expect if you think it would follow the same pattern as (い-adjective)くなる or (な-adjective or noun)になる. In this case, で is interpreted as the continuative of the copula, suggesting being able to be in that state. Verbs also use the -て form in a similar way (緊急時でも落ち着いていられる, 安心していられる). You can also get the negative, e.g. ここまで来たら、もう黙っていられない！, etc.

As for your final two questions, I'm not 100% certain what you're asking. Even if you haven't been explicitly taught this pattern, the specific grammatical structures being put together are pretty self-explanatory and comparable to other things you've seen, yes?

For your final question, I'd lean towards saying "yes", though I'm not completely confident because I don't know what you're envisioning. It's worth pointing out that because of the nuance of this expression, there are certain words it will more likely occur with (states where remaining in that state is a desirable thing). That is to say, you're going to see 涼しくいられる, 優しくいられる, 安心していられる, etc., but don't expect to see 蒸し暑くいられる, 気難しくいられる, 疲れていられる, etc. except in rare circumstances, if ever.

 

[healer]

Thanks a lot for your good response.

I thought I alluded to this in my response.

I did see your allusion. However I was asking if people could say 涼しくいる simply mean to say what the original translation said without explicitly saying being able to. Is it possible that natives always or often say いられる instead of いる in such circumstances? In other words could it sound odd if I say 涼しくいる instead of 涼しくいられる?

because of the nuance of this expression, there are certain words it will more likely occur

From your final comment いられる seems more likely for positive words.

the specific grammatical structures being put together are pretty self-explanatory

Luckily I’ve asked otherwise I would just treat na-adjectives the way like I-adjectives.

I’ve noticed from your examples that いられる also works with nouns like 友達でいられる, verbs like 落ち着いていられる,安心していられる and 疲れていられる. I suppose いられる here all mean “can be” I appreciate very much for the extra info you gave without me asking.