I would call - I would have called

Russian translation: Я бы позвонил

14:02 Aug 21, 2015
English to Russian translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Linguistics / Grammar
English term or phrase: I would call - I would have called
Conditional Tense - Conditional Perfect Tense

I need you to show me the difference between the two in Russian
It's not about "calling", it's about the exact grammar.

I chose Law as a field, because in Arts/Literary some inaccurate solutions still go, but not in law. In law you have to be precise and precisely quote/translate such grammar, because it makes a big difference there.

All explanations/comments in English, please!
Thanks!
bochkor
Local time: 13:51
Russian translation:Я бы позвонил
Explanation:
"Я бы позвонил тебе, если бы было время" is a suitable, if ambiguous, translation for both of those sentences. To make them unambiguous, I would offer the following:

I would call you, if I had time.
Я бы позвонил тебе, если бы нашлось время.

I would have called you, if I had had time.
Я бы позвонил тебе, но не было времени.

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Note added at 1 hr (2015-08-21 15:04:42 GMT)
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Regards "I would call you, if I had time" To be honest, I find this quite ambiguous in English as well. Many people would say it this way even though they in fact meant "I would have called you, if I had had time."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2015-08-21 15:04:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Regarding* not Regards, sorry.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2015-08-21 15:27:12 GMT)
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Assuming I only had the first part to work with, i.e. either "I would call" or "I would have called," and I didn't know what followed these words, I would render it in Russian as follows:

Я бы позвонил, если

vs.

Я бы позвонил, но

Only by replacing если with но can we convey the knowledge of the fact that the condition was NOT met, as expressed by the English "had had."
Selected response from:

Mikhail Kropotov
Germany
Local time: 18:51
Grading comment
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3Я бы позвонил
Mikhail Kropotov


Discussion entries: 17





  

Answers


41 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
i would call - i would have called
Я бы позвонил


Explanation:
"Я бы позвонил тебе, если бы было время" is a suitable, if ambiguous, translation for both of those sentences. To make them unambiguous, I would offer the following:

I would call you, if I had time.
Я бы позвонил тебе, если бы нашлось время.

I would have called you, if I had had time.
Я бы позвонил тебе, но не было времени.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2015-08-21 15:04:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Regards "I would call you, if I had time" To be honest, I find this quite ambiguous in English as well. Many people would say it this way even though they in fact meant "I would have called you, if I had had time."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2015-08-21 15:04:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Regarding* not Regards, sorry.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2015-08-21 15:27:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Assuming I only had the first part to work with, i.e. either "I would call" or "I would have called," and I didn't know what followed these words, I would render it in Russian as follows:

Я бы позвонил, если

vs.

Я бы позвонил, но

Only by replacing если with но can we convey the knowledge of the fact that the condition was NOT met, as expressed by the English "had had."

Mikhail Kropotov
Germany
Local time: 18:51
Native speaker of: Russian
PRO pts in category: 71
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