Translating 'would' in a result clause?

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cclaudian
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Location: Cambridge UK / Auckland NZ

Translating 'would' in a result clause?

Post by cclaudian »

Hey, I've got another composition question which falls outside the scope of my grammar textbooks. If I had an English sentence of the type, "This man speaks so eloquently that, if we were capable of it, we would do his bidding at once," how would I best capture the 'would' aspect of it.

On the face of things the subordinate clause is a conditional (present counterfactual) so I would just use εἰ + imperfect and imperfect + ἄν and that would be the end of it. But if I preferred to translate the conditional aspect of the sentence as a participle (something like σθένοντες / δυνάμενοι / ἔχοντες / εἴδοτες) how would I translate the 'would' in "would do his bidding at once", if the only options left to me in a result clause are an infinitive for 'natural result' and indicative for 'actual result'? Would tossing ἄν in there suffice? Can I use a potential optative in a result clause instead of an infinitive/indicative?

In short the question's in the title I s'pose. Thanks!

cclaudian
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 48
Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2018 7:14 pm
Location: Cambridge UK / Auckland NZ

Re: Translating 'would' in a result clause?

Post by cclaudian »

Edit whoops lol Smyth 2270 says exactly this lol. ἄν + inf appears to be fine

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