What does 顔を合わせさえすれば mean?


I'm reading a book and I've come across something i couldn't understand. The
sentence is long so I'll only give the section before the comma. It reads
「二人以上の人が顔を合わせさえすれば」.

After looking the phrase 「顔を合わせる」up in the dictionary I'm pretty sure i
understand the meaning of it. The grammar/meaning of 'さえすれば' is what I'm
struggling with.

The -ば at the end I'm assuming is the conditional 'if'. An explanation would
be appreciated. Also, if you could throw in a bit about the difference
situations that -ば is most appropriate, as opposed to -たら, that would also be
a big help!




The first thing to understand is さえ. さえ is a particle which essentially
creates a focus on the thing which proceeds it, and is usually translated as
“even”. It can attach to a noun or to a verb, depending on where the emphasis
is placed, and is used in a variety of constructions (I don’t go over them all
here; see e.g. Maggie Sensei’s post on this
[http://maggiesensei.com/2015/03/28/how-to-use-
さえsae/](http://maggiesensei.com/2015/03/28/how-to-use-%E3%81%95%E3%81%88sae/)
for something more comprehensive!). For example:

> 彼は自分の影にさえおびえる。 He is afraid even of his own shadow.

Somewhat logically, V+さえすれば is a set expression which means “if only”, “all
you have to do”, “as long as” or similar. The ば is indeed the conditional form
here. Context will help decide which sounds most natural in English. For
example:

> 君はただ皿を洗いさえすればいい。 All you have to do is wash the dishes. (lit. As long as you
> just wash the dishes, it will be good)

Thus, 二人以上の人が顔を合わせさえすれば looks like it should mean something like “as long as
at least two people meet(/face each other)”. Again, the most natural
translation may be different depending on context.

Regarding ば vs たら (and other types of conditional!), those are well explained
here [Differences among -たら、なら、-んだったら、-えば,
etc](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/393/33435).

Hope that helps.




The first thing to understand is さえ. さえ is a particle which essentially
creates a focus on the thing which proceeds it, and is usually translated as
“even”. It can attach to a noun or to a verb, depending on where the emphasis
is placed, and is used in a variety of constructions (I don’t go over them all
here; see e.g. Maggie Sensei’s post on this
[http://maggiesensei.com/2015/03/28/how-to-use-
さえsae/](http://maggiesensei.com/2015/03/28/how-to-use-%E3%81%95%E3%81%88sae/)
for something more comprehensive!). For example:

> 彼は自分の影にさえおびえる。 He is afraid even of his own shadow.

Somewhat logically, V+さえすれば is a set expression which means “if only”, “all
you have to do”, “as long as” or similar. The ば is indeed the conditional form
here. Context will help decide which sounds most natural in English. For
example:

> 君はただ皿を洗いさえすればいい。 All you have to do is wash the dishes. (lit. As long as you
> just wash the dishes, it will be good)

Thus, 二人以上の人が顔を合わせさえすれば looks like it should mean something like “as long as
at least two people meet(/face each other)”. Again, the most natural
translation may be different depending on context.

Regarding ば vs たら (and other types of conditional!), those are well explained
here [Differences among -たら、なら、-んだったら、-えば,
etc](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/393/33435).

Hope that helps.

