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I can't catch the grammar of the following sentence

今なら嫉妬で100人は殺{ヤ}れますよ。

In the previous text there was no reference to 100人. What is the function of は here? Is it a contrastive marker used instead of を?

What is the meaning of the sentence?

Now I am so jealous that I am able to kill at least 100 men.

Am I right?

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5
  • 1
    From manga. A girl kissed the cat. And one of the manga characters, who saw the scene, delivers this phrase.
    – Tabibito
    Nov 24, 2015 at 20:28
  • 殺ますよ is a typo, it should be 殺れますよ
    – Enno Shioji
    Nov 24, 2015 at 20:37
  • Maybe. What does 殺れる mean? 殺すことができる?
    – Tabibito
    Nov 24, 2015 at 20:50
  • @Tabibito やる can mean a lot of things; one of its meanings is "to kill", and when it means that, it may be written (kind of slangily) as 殺る【やる】. 殺れる【やれる】, then, is indeed just the potential form of that: "can kill".
    – senshin
    Nov 24, 2015 at 22:44
  • I have edited the post.
    – Tabibito
    Nov 25, 2015 at 1:17

1 Answer 1

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You're correct, this kind of は means "at least".

  • 3個は食べられる。 I can eat at least three.
  • ここに3人はいる。 There are at least three people here.
  • 3時間は待つ必要がある。 We have to wait at least for three hours.

Of course number + は does not mean "at least" in sentences like this:

  • 5個のりんごがある。3個はまだ青い。 There are five apples. Three of them are still green.
  • 10年は長い時間だ。 Ten years is a long time.
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