Tenses please (no need to translate)

Let me confess to you at once that if I had not, on the spur of the moment, picked up my pen and scribbled a note to Jim inviting him to address my passing-out-class on the closing evening of their entry course - and had Jim not, against all my expectations, consented - I would not be making so free to you with my heart.

Tenses to choose from:

1. conditional present tense

2.present subjunctive tense

3.imperfect subjunctive tense

4.pluperfect tense

5.past anterior tense

6. future perfect tense

Which tenses typify the phrases within the sentence, please! Pluperfect? and future perfect tense, "would not be making so free to you with my heart"?

Merci!

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on April 9, 2012 at 4:52pm

I'm not quite clear what you're asking here? Are you asking which tenses would be used to translate these in French?

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Permalink Reply by Katerina James on April 9, 2012 at 6:29pm

Ya, something like that. In other words I have to know what the tenses of this sentence are or is. After then would I consult my conjugation book, conjugate and translate the rest. My guess is pluperfect or future perfect. I don't know.

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on April 9, 2012 at 9:41pm

Ah, OK, I understand.

Well, the first verbs ("had not picked up/scribbled") would usually be pluperfects in French.

In the case of "had Jim not consented", you could also use "si" + pluperfect. In a fairly literary style, you could also use "que" + pluperfect subjunctive, but I stress that this is quite formal/literary.

The last case could just be a conditional -- e.g. some suggestions that spring to mind, "je ne prendrais pas la liberté de m'ouvrir à toi", "je [ne pourrais pas/ne me sentirais pas à même de] me confier à toi de tout mon coeur"..., all end up using a conditional. But equally, something like "je n'aurais pas pris le courage de me confier à toi" expresses the idea with a conditional perfect.

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Permalink Reply by Katerina James on April 9, 2012 at 7:39pm

Past anterior tense and pluperfect tense. These are how I see these sentences, neil..not guessing