Challenging verbal phrase!

Question

Hello SpanishDict world!

So I'm trying to write a message to my friend in Colombia, and after not having practised my Spanish for a while I'm totally stumped when it comes to translating this sentence:

I was afraid that I would not have been able to say anything.

What's really getting me is that nice long verbal phrase, "I would not have been able to say." I have no clue what to do - I've tried a lot of tenses but none of them seem to fit. Could any one help me out here?

:) - ian-hill, Dec 12, 2014

Answer 1

I was afraid that I would not have been able to say anything.

My try:

Tenía miedo de no ser capaz de decirte nada.

or

Tuve miedo de no ser capaz de decirte nada.

I would use the first one because sounds more logical in Spanish, but the verbs in English are less precise that in Spanish. So, both are correct translations but the first one it is better for me.

In the way of bosquederoble, I would say:

Tenía miedo de no poder decirte nada

Thanks, txustaboy! That really works and it sounds much more natural. Your expertise is always welcome. :D - Achsah, Dec 11, 2014

You're welcome :), but I´m not an expert ;) - txustaboy, Dec 11, 2014

You are a native speaker, so I would go with what sounds good to you over whatever I might come up with. I like "no ser capaz" there, I think it is a good solution. - bosquederoble, Dec 11, 2014

Answer 2

I was afraid that I would not have been able to say anything.

My best try:

Tenía miedo de que no hubiera podido decir nada.

I chose past subjunctive because I am discussing my feelings about it- I think would here is being used in a subjunctive sense. This is a very difficult one, and I would await other input first.

It is probably more natural to simplify it to I was afraid of not being able to say anything.

Tenía miedo de no poder decir nada.

And it might be that native speakers reject the first as unnecessarily complicated.

Thanks for your input, bosquederoble! :) I agree, I always make things a little more complicated than they need to be... :P - Achsah, Dec 11, 2014

Good going, Bosque. - Daniela2041, Dec 11, 2014

The first one is complicated and i think that it is wrong. The correct would be: Tenía miedo de no haber podido decir nada - txustaboy, Dec 11, 2014

Yes, since there is no subject shift, it probably should be the infinitive. - bosquederoble, Dec 11, 2014

Bosque, my thinking was along with yours, but I have to say that txtaboy sounds exactly what he is, native. - annierats, Dec 11, 2014

I vote for your good effort as well as for txta's great solution to this one. - annierats, Dec 11, 2014

Answer 3

Tenía miedo de no haber podido decir nada.

Tenía miedo de que yo no habría sido capaz de decir cualquier cosa.

For me the 2nd one is closer to the original English.

I was afraid that I would not have been able to say anything.