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Re: The phrase 'I'd like...'

From:Christophe Grandsire <christophe.grandsire@...>
Date:Thursday, January 15, 2004, 20:36
En réponse à PHILIPPE CAQUANT :


>Deplorable ? Sounds rather logical, after all. >
Only when your logic is incorrect :)) .
>I have a Portuguese pal, speaking French like a native, who refuses >categorally to say "Si j'étais... je ferais". He decided once for all that >he would say "Si je serais", because he finds it much more satisfying >(conditional being the mode of the condition)
Nope. Conditional is the mode of what's *dependent* on a condition, of what will be *if* a condition is realised. You can't logically use conditional in both the "si" subclause and the main clause, because it would mean that what is in the "si" subclause is itself dependent on a condition.
> (I think that in Portuguese it's something like "se eu fosse" = > subjunctive).
Yep, still no conditional. This guy has no excuse not to talk correctly in French, especially since his opinion is illogical.
> >Note that in esperanto, the same applies (I'm not trying to sell any >esperanto method, I swear): >Se mi estus sana, mi estus felicxa = If I was healthy, I would be happy.
But that's only because the Esperanto subjunctive has a strong jussive (command) meaning, and behaves differently from other languages' subjunctive. Christophe Grandsire. http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr You need a straight mind to invent a twisted conlang.

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PHILIPPE CAQUANT <herodote92@...>