Could you plz tell me what does the ' even' mean in this sentence. Thanks
" I personally had to blunder through this old world for a third of a century before it even begin to dawn upon me that ninety-nine out of a hundred, people don't criticise themselves for anything no matter wrong it may be."
Thanks a lot.
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Answers · 6
2
The 'even' in this sentence would be taken as 'before the event occurred/happened'. So this sentence is saying that before thinking about the 99 out of a 100, he blundered through the old world for a third of a century
2
I can best explain by using a simple example.
"This smartphone costs less than $100" is a simple statement of fact.
"This smartphone costs even less than $100" communicates two ideas at the same time:
a) This smartphone costs less than $100, and
b) $100 is a very low price.
The smartphone is cheaper than cheap.
In your example, "even" strengthens the statement by saying more than "before I realized X." It isn't just before I realized X. It's before I began to realize X.
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