Meldinger: 5
Språk: English
EldanarLambetur (Å vise profilen) 2012 8 2 11:51:10
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Often children would gather about the sorcerers...
They would ask how people lived before sorcery and spells...
Almost certainly they would receive a sigh and a stern expression...[/list]Am I right in trying to avoid translating this using the "-us" ending? Should the present simply be used in a general way? E.g.
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Ofte, infanoj kunvenas ĉirkaŭ la sorĉistoj...
Ili demandas kiel la homoj vivis antaŭ sorĉo kaj sorĉaĵoj...
Preskaŭ certe, ili ricevas suspiron kaj gravan vizaĝesprimon...[/list]Thanks!
Kirilo81 (Å vise profilen) 2012 8 2 12:05:09
Anyhow, "would" here expresses habituality/repetition and has nothing to do with the "would" = "-us". The suffix you need is "-ad" (but don't overdo it), so
Ofte infanoj kunven(ad)is ĉirkaŭ la sorĉistoj...
Ili demandadis, kiel la homoj vivis antaŭ sorĉado kaj sorĉaĵoj...
Preskaŭ certe ili aŭd(ad)is suspiron kaj gravan vizaĝesprimon..
EldanarLambetur (Å vise profilen) 2012 8 2 12:23:34
"vivas" was certainly a mistake.
I didn't think of using the past tense to talk about habitual actions, but I suppose the "ofte" indicates that it wasn't just a single past event.
Though I think that the additional usage of "ad" can be potentially misleading. Perhaps it's okay with "kunvenadis" because that implies they keep gathering about them. But using it for "aŭdadis" or "ricevadis" gives me images of someone repeatedly sighing at them!
sudanglo (Å vise profilen) 2012 8 2 12:48:23
La infanoj kutimis ... seems more neutral, more plain past habit without the wilfulness element. How about ofte la infanoj volontis...?
However, to translate for example It would often start to rain just as we were going out the notion of wilfulness seems inapplicable. In that case perhaps you can't do better than the simple past - Ofte ekpluvis ĝuste kiam ni estis elirontaj.
EldanarLambetur (Å vise profilen) 2012 8 2 12:57:47