Understanding くらい


> 五千円で一万円の物が買えないってこと **くらい** 、まる子にだって分かる。  
>  Even Maruko understands that you can't buy a thing worth 10,000 yen with
> 5000 yen.

What does くらい add to this sentence? I think it suggests that although she
doesn't know much, she knows **at least** this one fact. Is my understanding
correct?




(The question has already been "answered" in the comment above, but here is
another one from me for the thread's sake.)

Yes, your understanding is indeed correct.

> 「[五千円]{ごせんえん}で[一万円]{いちまんえん}の[物]{もの}が[買]{か}えないってこと **くらい** 、まる[子]{こ}に **だって**
> [分]{わ}かる。」

「～～くらい」, in this usage, expresses how minimal, trivial, slight, weak, easy,
etc. something is. That "something" in this case is the **_fact_** that you
cannot buy a thing worth 10,000 yen with 5000 yen.

The speaker's estimate of the triviality of the object is further emphasized
by the 「だって」 part that follows. To create this extra emphasis, we often
combine 「～～くらい」 with:

「にも」、「でも」、「さえ」、「だって」, etc.

Free original example sentences:

「タバコ **くらい** [自分]{じぶん}の[金]{かね}で[買]{か}えよ！」 "Something as (cheap) as cigarettes,
you should buy with your own money!"

「こんな[問題]{もんだい} **くらい** 、[小学生]{しょうがくせい} **でも** [答]{こた}えられる。」 "A question as
easy as this one, even a grammar school kid could answer!"

Finally, a quote from 'Evangelion':

「[人類]{じんるい}を[守]{まも}る **くらい** 、[私一人]{わたしひとり}で[十分]{じゅうぶん}よ！」 "A task as trivial
as saving mankind, I could handle all by myself!"




(The question has already been "answered" in the comment above, but here is
another one from me for the thread's sake.)

Yes, your understanding is indeed correct.

> 「[五千円]{ごせんえん}で[一万円]{いちまんえん}の[物]{もの}が[買]{か}えないってこと **くらい** 、まる[子]{こ}に **だって**
> [分]{わ}かる。」

「～～くらい」, in this usage, expresses how minimal, trivial, slight, weak, easy,
etc. something is. That "something" in this case is the **_fact_** that you
cannot buy a thing worth 10,000 yen with 5000 yen.

The speaker's estimate of the triviality of the object is further emphasized
by the 「だって」 part that follows. To create this extra emphasis, we often
combine 「～～くらい」 with:

「にも」、「でも」、「さえ」、「だって」, etc.

Free original example sentences:

「タバコ **くらい** [自分]{じぶん}の[金]{かね}で[買]{か}えよ！」 "Something as (cheap) as cigarettes,
you should buy with your own money!"

「こんな[問題]{もんだい} **くらい** 、[小学生]{しょうがくせい} **でも** [答]{こた}えられる。」 "A question as
easy as this one, even a grammar school kid could answer!"

Finally, a quote from 'Evangelion':

「[人類]{じんるい}を[守]{まも}る **くらい** 、[私一人]{わたしひとり}で[十分]{じゅうぶん}よ！」 "A task as trivial
as saving mankind, I could handle all by myself!"

