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娘の気持ちも知らずに、いや、知っていて、平気でそんな風に言えるのがヒロシだ。
The one speaking with indifference like that, without understanding his daughter's feelings, is Hiroshi.

My translation doesn't include the いや、知っていて part. I'm struggling to even guess what this means. Maybe "knowing he's being unpleasant"?

I suspect there are a few words/particles missing here, but I can't fill in the gaps.

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  • Didn't you you know that いや could mean 'no'?
    – Angelos
    Mar 5, 2017 at 22:44
  • @Nothingatall I did, but even if I'd been told that it definitely meant 'no' in this context, I'd never in a million years have come up with the accepted answer. Mar 6, 2017 at 19:30

1 Answer 1

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To me it reads as though いや、知っていて is the author changing his mind mid-sentence:

"Even without knowing his daughter's feelings.. no, even knowing them... this is a Hiroshi who has no problem saying something like that."

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  • Same verb, two separate meanings. I'm familiar with both uses but what gives you the clue that the meaning changes from one to the other in this sentence? Your answer sounds very convincing but it's still far from obvious to me. Mar 6, 2017 at 19:32
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    I've updated my translation to be more literal. I have a habit of using "know" and "understand" interchangeably when translating... I think because they are used themselves more interchangeably in Japanese whereas in English the meanings are fairly distinct.
    – nurikabe
    Mar 7, 2017 at 19:45

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