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悪質かは置いといて今日は集まり悪いですね。

This "question + は置いといて" looks like a common construction based on Google results but I can't find an explanation of it.

But my guess from staring at it long enough and considering the "putting aside" meaning of 置く is that this perhaps means:

Putting aside the question of whether I'm being a jerk, today's gathering is bad, isn't it.

Is that correct?

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  • I'm fairly certain 置いといて is simply a contraction of 置いておいて. Are you familiar with ～ておく? It is fairly common to contract it to ～とく in colloquial or rapid speech.
    – Angelos
    Mar 16, 2016 at 2:33
  • @Nothing Yup I'm aware of that.
    – Aurast
    Mar 16, 2016 at 2:40

1 Answer 1

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Yes, ～は置いといて = ～は置いておいて = Putting aside ～.

There are two 置く, and the second 置く works as a subsidiary verb. That's not uncommon.

This 悪質か does not mean "whether I am being a jerk", but means "whether or not this is out of malice", "whether or not they have a good reason for not coming", etc.

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  • Thanks, so if I'm understanding right, Aかは置いておいてB is saying something like "regardless of whether A is the reason why, B is true."
    – Aurast
    Mar 16, 2016 at 2:57
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    Aかは置いておいて doesn't necessarily refer to a reason. "正しいかは置いておいて、彼はそう言っている。" (Putting aside whether it's true, he says so.)
    – naruto
    Mar 16, 2016 at 3:06
  • Is は needed after か? What function does は play here?
    – user1602
    May 18, 2021 at 5:34
  • @user1602 This は is a contrastive-wa that replaced を. 置く meaning "putting aside" is normally used with contrstive-wa because there's a contrast between an unimportant thing and an important thing. That said, it's possible to say something like それを置いておくのは良くない "It's not good to leave it (untouched)".
    – naruto
    May 18, 2021 at 6:25
  • I understand that をは usage and know it must contract to は. My problem here is かは. Can は follow any particle?
    – user1602
    May 18, 2021 at 8:05

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