How do we render the expression "What if" in Esperanto? "Kio se" doesn't seem to fit to me. I used "Supozu....tiam, kion mi devus fari?"

Example:

What if the good life never comes, will my life be one constant struggle?

Supozu la bonan vivon neniam alvenos, tiam kion mi devus fari? Cxu mia vivo estu unu sencxesa lukto?

FoxtrotUniform:What if the good life never comes, will my life be one constant struggle?

Supozu la bonan vivon neniam alvenos, tiam kion mi devus fari? Cxu mia vivo estu unu sencxesa lukto?

I am not sure about neniam.

Also, I think it should be:
Supozu la bona vivo...

This is how I would write it.
Kion mi devus fari, se la bona vivo ne alvenus?

FoxtrotUniform:How do we render the expression "What if" in Esperanto? "Kio se" doesn't seem to fit to me. I used "Supozu....tiam, kion mi devus fari?"

Example:

What if the good life never comes, will my life be one constant struggle?

Supozu la bonan vivon neniam alvenos, tiam kion mi devus fari? Cxu mia vivo estu unu sencxesa lukto?

Se la bona vivo neniam venos, ĉu mia vivo estos senĉesa batalo?

thyrolf:Se la bona vivo neniam venos, ĉu mia vivo estos senĉesa batalo?

Wouldn't it be "venus" and "estus"?

To my understanding, "-us" is for the conditional mood, and there is a condition (if the good live never comes).

Ibraesil:

thyrolf:Se la bona vivo neniam venos, ĉu mia vivo estos senĉesa batalo?

Wouldn't it be "venus" and "estus"?

To my understanding, "-us" is for the conditional mood, and there is a condition (if the good live never comes).

I think that it is very difficult to know which verb form to use for the conditional. I mean, sometimes I want to express time along with it: past, present and future. And then -us won't do.

What if it didn't happen?
What if it isn't happening
What if it won't happen?

Does anybody have advice?

SPadern:I think that it is very difficult to know which verb form to use for the conditional. I mean, sometimes I want to express time along with it: past, present and future. And then -us won't do.

The book/website 'Being Colloquial in Esperanto' is helpful. Here's the section on the conditional: http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/eo/colloq/colloq12...

SPadern:I think that it is very difficult to know which verb form to use for the conditional. I mean, sometimes I want to express time along with it: past, present and future. And then -us won't do.

What if it didn't happen?
What if it isn't happening
What if it won't happen?

Does anybody have advice?

I would imagine "estus -inta", "estus -anta" and "estus -onta", but I'm really not sure.

SPadern:I think that it is very difficult to know which verb form to use for the conditional. I mean, sometimes I want to express time along with it: past, present and future. And then -us won't do.

What if it didn't happen?
What if it isn't happening
What if it won't happen?

Does anybody have advice?

Add adverbs of time (jam, nun, estonte...), as -us doesn't express a temporal relation, only a modal one.

Do not go the lazy way using estus -inta, unless you want to emphasize that something is finished at a given point of time - which may be in the future (just like esta/i/os -inta).