 | "Should", "Would" and "Could" conditional sentences - how to translate into greek ? |
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Hello, I am learning greek and can't find - what they call conditional sentences I+II in english - in any books that teach greek language. So please, maybe you can help me. I want to translate this examples of conditional sentences "I would buy the house, if I had the money" and "I could pay the bill, but I won't pay it" and "If I were you, I would do the job" and so on. How do you translate the sentences above and especially the verbs "would" "could" "should" and "wouldn't" "shouldn't" "couldn't" ? greets |
| Απάντηση: "Should", "Would" and "Could" conditional sentences - how to translate into greek ? |
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In Greek these words don't really exist. We change the verb to make it work "I would buy the house, if I had the money Θα αγόραζα αυτό το σπίτι εάν είχα το χρήμα. I could pay the bill, but I won't pay it Θα μπορούσα να πληρώσω το λογιαρσμό, αλλά δεν θέλω θα το πληρώσω. If I were you, I would do the job Εάν ήμουν στη θέση σου, εγώ θα έκανα τη δουλειά. I suppose the word WOULD is used with the word ΘΑ and then the verb. The Word could is that you use the verb θα μπορούσα (ες) (ε) (αμε) (ατε) (ανε). and then the verb. I hope this helped you in anyway, and hopefully someone who is better at explaining Grammar over the internet can help. |
| Re: "Should", "Would" and "Could" conditional sentences - how to translate into greek ? |
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I don't think there's a simple answer to your request, but I hope the following is a useful introduction for you. THREE CONDITIONALS 1 Αν του το πει, αυτός (δε) θα πιστέψει. If she tells him, he will (not) believe it. 2 Αν του το έλεγε, αυτός (δε) θα πίστευε. If she told him, he would (not) believe it. 3 Αν του το είχε πει, αυτός (δε) θα είχα πιστέψει. If she had told him, he would (not) have believed it. In English terms, I think of the Greek as 1 If she tells him, he θα (not) believe it. 2 If she was telling him, he θα was (not) believing it. 3 If she had told him, he θα had (not) believed it. but that's just me. 1 uses the future 2 uses the past continuous 3 uses the past perfect COULD (Δεν) μπορώ να φύγω - I am (not) able to leave (Δεν) μπόρεσα να φύγω - I was (not) able to leave (Δε) θα μπορώ να φύγω - I will (not) be able to leave (Δε) θα μπορούσα να φύγω - I would (not) be able to leave Μπορεί να (δε) φύγω - it is possible I will (not) leave These five can also be translated as I can (not) leave I could (not) leave I will (not) be able to leave I could (not) leave Perhaps I will (not) leave example: αν μπορούσα να το κάνω, θα το έκανα if I could do it, I would SHOULD (Δεν) πρέπει να φύγω - I (don't) have to leave (Δεν) έπρεπε να φύγω - I had to leave / I didn't have to leave (Δε) θα πρέπει να φύγω - I should (not) leave (Δε) θα έπρεπε να φύγω - I should (not) leave examples: πόσο καιρό θα πρέπει να περιμένω; how long should I wait? θα έπρεπε να είναι εκεί τώρα - he should be there now I think θα πρέπει would be more frequently used in conversation than θα έπρεπε. Hope this is correct! Calum |
| Re: "Should", "Would" and "Could" conditional sentences - how to translate into greek ? |
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There are two problems for English speakers to deal with when thinking about conditional sentences: there is no conditional tense in English (or Greek) as there is, for example, in French. Also there are so many variations in expressing conditional sentences in English – even native speakers sometimes make mistakes!! There are plenty of different ways of learning conditionals. I have used the following table for many years in teaching Classical Greek and I find it works well for modern Greek too. REAL CONDITIONALS (i.e. if I am actually doing something) Present If I do/am doing this (now), I make/am making a mistake Αν κάνω αυτό (τώρα), κάνω λάθος Past If I did this (yesterday), I made a mistake Αν έκανα αυτό (χθες), έκανα λάθος Future If I do this (tomorrow) I shall make a mistake Αν κανώ αυτό (αύριο), θα κάνω λάθος HYPOTHETICAL CONDITIONALS (i.e. if I were doing something – but IΆm not) Present If I were doing this (now), I would be making a mistake Αν έκανα αυτό (τώρα), θα έκανα λάθος Past If I had done this (yesterday), I would have made a mistake Αν είχα κάνει αυτό (χθες), θα είχα κάνει λάθος Future If I were to do this (tomorrow), I would be making a mistake. Αν έκανα αυτό (αύριο), θα έκανα λάθος. I hope this helps. Jim |
| Re: "Should", "Would" and "Could" conditional sentences - how to translate into greek ? |
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Since Jim has doubled the amount of conditionals offered, I hope he won't mind if I skew his table a little so I can highlight two things which help me master these constructions. These two points are the use of θα and the verbal form marked with an asterisk. FUTURE If I listen, I'll learn (and that's a fact) - future Αν (no θα!) ακούσω, θα μάθω PRESENT If I'm listening, I'm learning (and that's a fact) Αν ακούω, μαθαίνω PAST If I listened, I learned (and that's a fact) Αν άκουσα, έμαθα FUTURE/PRESENT ALTERNATIVE If I listened, I'd learn (but I'm not going to listen) - future If I were listening, I'd be learning (but I'm not listening) - present Αν (no θα) άκουσα, θα έμαθα * PAST ALTERNATIVE If I had listened, I would've learned (but I didn't listen) Αν (no θα!) είχα ακούσει, θα είχα μάθει As Greek learners, we're very fortunate that, essentially, the same verbal forms are used in both halves of these sentences so our only real problem is choosing which form for each sentence type and, if necessary, dropping a θα after αν. To me, this is so much easier than the English constructions. It would seem that θα (even if not employed after αν here) indicates that the action is taken out of past and present reality in some way. Thus both future sentences use θα because the future has still not become a factual reality. The fact that Greek uses the one form (marked with an asterisk) to represent not just alternative future but also alternative present is not entirely alien to English usage of verbal forms. English stative verbs would often match this pattern. For example, the sentence 'I'd feel much better if I understood' uses forms perhaps more associated with future possibility but the sentence actually indicates that the person is not feeling good at present. 'I'd be feeling better if I were understanding' is not a valid option. My above table presents these types of statement in a Greek set of five. Three of the statements are essentially about reality and these use the obvious past, present and future forms. Easy. Then there just two other statement types about alternative reality, both of which use θα. One form is used for the past and the other for the present and future. Even easier. Regards, Calum |
| Re: "Should", "Would" and "Could" conditional sentences - how to translate into greek ? |
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Fantastic !!! All of you helped me in a great way, you answered what I wanted to know in a clearly arranged manner. Now I can use the conditionals , though I see that the greeks don't use it really that much, like the german or english people do. But I like to be able to use it when it boils down to expressing something that is hypothetical. Thanks a lot to all of you. Regards, Enzo |
