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Can you tell me what ぐらいでいいのでは means?
Also, I don't understand why potential form of the verb is used in this sentence Can you help me to translate this sentence?

Context: The questioner asked how to eat "elegantly" while you talk to someone, and the responder wrote:

口に運ぶ量を少なめにするといいと思いますよ。三回ぐらい噛んで飲み込めるぐらいでいいのでは

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  • Can you let us know how do you understand (part of) this sentence, and why do you think potential form is unsuitable here? Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 10:59
  • I don't understand the ぐらいでいい part
    – Promesso
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 16:48
  • Without further context, it would be impossible to discuss why the potential form is being used.
    – user4032
    Commented Feb 18, 2015 at 0:19
  • The questioner asked how to eat "elegantly" while you talk to someone, and the responder wrote "口に運ぶ量を少なめにするといいと思いますよ。三回ぐらい噛んで飲み込めるぐらいでいいのでは?"
    – Promesso
    Commented Feb 18, 2015 at 14:35

2 Answers 2

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Thanks to your additional info, OP, the question is now answerable.

So, the overall context is:

Person A: "How should/could one eat elegantly while speaking to another?"

Person B: 「[口]{くち}に[運]{はこ}ぶ[量]{りょう}を[少]{すく}なめにするといいと[思]{おも}いますよ。[三回]{さんかい}ぐらい[噛]{か}んで[飲]{の}み[込]{こ}めるぐらいでいいのでは? 」

「~~ぐらいでいいのでは?」 is an expression of suggesting a method for an action. It gives a rough idea of what should suffice in achieving a good result, which should explain why 「ぐらい = "approximately"」 is being used.

「~~でいいのでは?」 = 「~~でいいのではないでしょうか?」 if that helps you understand the phrase better. It is a way of asking the question: "Wouldn't ~~ suffice?", "Wouldn't ~~ be good enough?"

What is the rough idea being suggested? It is "bringing a somewhat small amount of food into your mouth at a time so that one could swallow it only after chewing it about 3 times".

To say "one could swallow", it uses the potential form 「飲み込める」.

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That ぐらい is 位, or "degree". So, translating it word by word, it's "Isn't it enough by the degree in which you can bite it three times and swallow it?". What it says is eventually "I think it's enough when you do it so that you could bite it three times and swallow it".

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