Understanding 前世で因縁でもあった


>   1. なぜか彼女の体格ーーというか主に胸部ーーを見ていると、遥か昔に受けた耐えがたい屈辱を思い出すかのような感覚に囚われた。......
> **前世で因縁でもあった** のだろうか。 (Date a live, novel)
>

>   2. **前世で因縁のある** 相手に求婚されました。
>

<https://www.alphapolis.co.jp/novel/386289103/512357378/episode/2752663>

>   3. そして実は、この3人以外にも **前世で因縁があった** 人が、現在の彼らの中にいることが判明していきます。
>

[http://americanwhiskeynyc.com/p/4123026891530/?i=94133&fdA3Zg.donnish](http://americanwhiskeynyc.com/p/4123026891530/?i=94133&fdA3Zg.donnish)

Please have a look at these sample sentences. I have 3 questions.

  1. In the first sentence, is the でも in 因縁でもあった used in the same way as in お茶 **でも** 飲みませんか。? So grammatically, this でも is almost equivalent to が? If not, how should I understand the でも?
  2. Is 前世 **で** rather than 前世に used in these sample sentences because 因縁があった(ある) is considered as an action? Since in the pattern 「AにBがある」, に indicates the place where B exists while で is for the place where an action takes place.
  3. Is there any difference between 前世で因縁があった and 前世で因縁がある?




  1. Yes. 因縁があった is "there was an 因縁", whereas 因縁でもあった is "there was an 因縁 or something like that". 因縁 is originally a Buddhism term, but it has been neutralized and can refer to any old human relationship that indirectly affects someone's fate.
  2. ある is a plain existence verb here, but 前世 refers to a time range rather than a place, so you don't have to use に.
  3. Of course ある puts more focus on the current situation, but the difference is small in your examples.

